A new scorecard released today examined thirteen global fast food, retail and food manufacturing companies and found that even the top-scoring of the group are failing to protect South American tropical forests from being converted to pasture for cattle. The clearing of tropical forests contributes about 10 percent of all global warming emissions, and beef production is the largest contributor.
“The latest science shows beef production is responsible for more than twice as much deforestation as the other top drivers of tropical deforestation — soy, palm oil and wood products — combined,” said Lael Goodman, a tropical forests analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). “South America is ground-zero for forest destruction from beef production. We need to protect South America’s tropical forests from conversion to pasture for beef cattle to reduce global warming pollution and protect the planet from climate change.”
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