Red meat council and Meat and Livestock Australia drops carbon neutral 2030 target

In its new strategic plan Meat and Livestock Australia have aligned with the whole industry stating the carbon neutral 2030 goal was not possible.

Australia’s $20bn red meat industry has walked away from its commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030.

But industry leaders maintain they are still committed to improving the carbon footprint of the industry.

Meat and Livestock Australia unveiled its new strategic plan on Tuesday, which aligns its carbon policy with the federal government’s 2050 target.

MLA managing director Michael Crowley said the red meat industry set its CN30 goal in 2017 before the government had established its climate goals.

While the red meat industry has reduced net greenhouse gas emissions by almost 78 per cent, against the 2005 baseline, according to a CSIRO report, Mr Crowley said reaching CN30 was dependent on the right levels of investment and policy settings and “we now know we need more time, more support, and more investment to reach our goal”.

It comes after the Red Meat Advisory Council announced its decision to back away from carbon neutrality, in a review of its Red Meat 2030 strategy released last week, after realising it was “not achievable”.

“Our understanding around livestock emissions and their impact on our environment has advanced significantly since Red Meat 2030 was originally launched (in 2019) and it continues to evolve,” RMAC chairman John McKillop said.

“While industry remains committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity, we now recognise that the previous carbon neutral 2030 goal is not achievable.” The decision was taken after a consultation process over the past six months with industry.

This, he said, saw $160m for working towards the goal of being carbon neutral.

Some of these projects included low methane genetics, storing soil carbon in grazing systems, cutting methane emissions in feedlots with feed additives, more energy and water efficient processing and research to improve understanding in carbon emissions.

“We’ve updated our plans to maintain our focus on reducing emissions intensity as well as a renewed commitment to positively contribute to Australia’s net-zero ambitions while advancing profitability, productivity and sustainability,” Mr McKillop said.

He said the mid-term review updated Red Meat 2030 to “reflect the changing operating environment and industry’s needs and objectives for the next five years”.

“Australia exported product worth over $20bn in 2024 and was the world’s second largest beef exporter and largest sheepmeat and goat meat exporter,” he said.

“Red Meat 2030 updates the goal of doubling the value of red meat and livestock sales to focus on productivity and profitability outcomes, rather than a total sales volume focus.

“This updated metric ensures industry focuses on growing demand for Australian products through global market access.”

Cattle Australia outgoing chief executive Dr Chris Parker said Cattle Australia was committed to playing a proactive role in delivering policy settings to enable producers and industry to continue to reduce emissions and care for the land.

But he said changes in policy and new investment in research were required if Australia was to reach its end goal of carbon neutrality.

Meanwhile, in the first year of MLA’s strategic plan, $24m will be invested in environmental sustainability projects, including research into the biogenic methane cycle and methane as a genetic trait.

MLA outlines it is expecting revenue of $114.7m in producer levies with total revenue at $328.8m in the 2026 financial year. From this it intends to spend $91.7m on marketing, market access and insights and $236.9m on research and development.