According to the UN agency's Livestock's Long Shadow-Environmental Issues and Options report, farm animal manure produces 18 percent more greenhouse gas emissions, as measured in CO2 equivalent, than cars.
It is also a major source of land and water degradation, the report said. "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation," Henning Steinfeld, head of FAO's Livestock Information and Policy Branch and senior author of the report, said, according to the German Press Agency.