• High-resolution mapping reveals just five countries (France, Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy) produce almost 60% of livestock methane in Europe.

• Analysis finds major EU pollution ‘hotspots’: just 10% of the regions (24 of 240) produced roughly two-fifths of EU’s methane from manure and enteric fermentation 
• Cattle responsible for nearly 80% of Europe’s livestock methane and remain outside scope of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). Swine, responsible for just 10.1%, are within the IED scope.
  
• Upcoming vote on continued exclusion of cattle from IED a “test we cannot afford to fail”.

A high-resolution map of Europe and the UK, produced by Changing Markets and the University of Oxford, reveals significant methane and ammonia “hotspots” from livestock farming.

The analysis shows that hotspots vary by livestock type and manure management system. Pollution is highly concentrated: just five countries (France, Germany, The UK, Spain and Italy) produce around 60% of livestock methane in 2020. Of the 240 EU ‘hotspots’ analysed, the analysis finds just 10% emit around two-fifths of Europe’s livestock methane. Cattle manure management alone produces 24.3% of Europe’s ammonia, a precursor to PM2.5, the fine particulate matter linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease and responsible for nearly 200,000 premature deaths in Europe.

In total, livestock farming released around 9.36 million tonnes of methane in 2020, of which cattle were responsible for 79.6%. Spain’s Castilla y León, which has the country’s largest cattle herd and third-largest pig population, illustrates the problem. Industrial livestock farms there have grown rapidly – now home to nearly 4000 pig farms – and residents of the Segovia area endure persistent water and air pollution despite frequent protests and campaigns highlighting the issue.

The regulatory gap

The research comes ahead of an upcoming omnibus vote in the European Parliament on the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). The IED currently covers industrial pig and poultry farms, but both the European Parliament and Council of Europe voted in 2023 to reject the proposed inclusion of cattle – the largest driver of agricultural methane. This could become permanent in the upcoming omnibus vote, if some of the suggested amendments are adopted.

The EU also has no absolute reduction target for agricultural non-CO₂ emissions, putting it out of step with the 30% cut by 2030 committed under the Global Methane Pledge, which it co-founded. Agricultural methane reductions have stalled in the EU and even with all existing policies fully implemented, agricultural non-CO₂ emissions would fall only 22% by 2050, far short of the 50% the EU’s own scientific advisers have said would be needed to meet climate neutrality.

Caitlin Smith, Campaign Manager at Changing Markets said: “This data reveals a huge gap in regulating farming’s emissions and air pollutants. Livestock farming is a major driver of methane emissions, but the IED has been unpicked by the agricultural lobby’s exceptions and loopholes that only worsen its enormous climate impact. Pig and poultry farms get major concessions, while cattle are excluded entirely. 

Without strengthening the IED and bringing cattle into its scope, Europe stands no chance of achieving the reductions it committed to under the Global Methane Pledge, and methane isn’t any less harmful for the climate than it was in 2021 when the Pledge was agreed. This vote is a real test of whether the Global Methane Pledge means anything. We simply cannot afford to fail it”.