Animal Health as a Climate Solution: Phase I

Project Description

EDF requests a 12-month grant of $946,022 to support scoping and coordination to set the stage for global action on animal health as a climate solution. This Phase I effort will begin to develop a robust body of evidence demonstrating the relationship between animal health and climate, while facilitating collaboration and alignment among animal health stakeholders. Through focused engagement with stakeholders, this project will create an investment-ready research agenda and establish a framework for interventions in countries where diseases/syndromes could be tackled to reduce methane emissions intensity. A demonstration project led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) will illustrate how improved animal health delivers climate benefits. Partners including the Global Dairy Platform and Global Research Alliance for Agricultural Greenhouse Gasses will leverage the intervention framework and demonstration project results to integrate explicit livestock animal health outcomes into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), illuminating pathways for countries to support effective livestock systems. We have targeted countries expressing strong interest in animal health that have different, globally representative animal health programs, including Kenya, Uruguay and Ireland. Two additional countries will be determined as part of this project. This Phase I project will enable planning for a longer-term, coordinated effort with Global Methane Hub and animal health stakeholders to advance animal health as a climate solution. Recognizing the need for broad support to scale these initiatives, EDF will launch a global campaign to raise ambition to bring new partners and resources to this collaborative effort