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🇰🇷 South Korea /Environment & Climate

Global Farm Animal Numbers Surge, Threatening Climate and Wildlife

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Global farm animal populations surged 53% in two decades, nearing 100 billion, with a 27% increase in land used for feed production.
  • This expansion and intensification of factory farming contribute to climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity.
  • Experts urge a shift away from meat-heavy diets and call on development banks to redirect funding from factory farming to sustainable food systems.

The number of farm animals worldwide has surged by 53% over the past two decades, approaching 100 billion, according to a new analysis. This dramatic increase, from 61.8 billion in 2006 to 94.9 billion in 2023, is accompanied by a 27% rise in cultivated land dedicated to producing animal feed. The findings come from a "retrospective report" by the citizens' group 'Stop Financing Factory Farming,' which analyzed the impact of modern livestock farming based on a 2006 UN report.

A broad dietary shift away from meat is the only way to reverse the worsening of the global environment.

— Merel van de MarkMerel van de Mark, head of animal welfare and finance at Sinergia Animal, stated that a shift away from meat-heavy diets is essential to address environmental degradation.

Despite ongoing concerns about the ecological and climate impacts of factory farming, the sector continues to expand. The group, formed in 2020, campaigns for public development banks like the World Bank to cease financial support for factory farming and invest in sustainable food systems. Their analysis highlights that while some production methods have reduced environmental impact per unit, the sheer increase in animal numbers has amplified the overall environmental burden. Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock have also risen significantly.

The report attributes the growth in animal populations to structural market flaws that encourage animal product consumption and changing dietary habits favoring meat and dairy. The expansion has led to a 27% increase in land used for feed production, with animal agriculture now consuming 80% of global agricultural land. This intensification is linked to habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem damage, including the creation of "dead zones" in marine environments due to nutrient runoff from animal waste.

Public development banks, which supported factory farming with $1.23 billion in 2024, must lead change by altering their investment criteria.

— Merel van de MarkMerel van de Mark urged public development banks to change their investment criteria and redirect financial flows toward more sustainable practices.

Merel van de Mark, head of animal welfare and finance at Sinergia Animal, emphasized that a broad dietary shift away from meat is crucial to reversing environmental degradation. She urged public development banks, which provided $1.23 billion to factory farming in 2024, to change their investment criteria and redirect financial flows toward more sustainable practices. "This means the world moving away from factory farming," she stated, calling for an end to financial support for the industry.

Multilateral development banks must stop financing factory farming and shift financial flows toward a more sustainable world.

— Merel van de MarkMerel van de Mark emphasized the need for development banks to cease funding factory farming and support a sustainable future.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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