Robert Goodland is an environmental analyst: “I worked as environmental adviser for the World Bank Group, headquartered in Washington, for 23 years” (see: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/23/comment.globalisation ).
Robert Goodland and Jeff Anfang on re-assessment of the CH4 contribution to annual greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution (2009): “When uncounted tons are added to the global inventory of GHGs, that inventory rises from 41,755 million tons to 63,803 million tons … total GHGs attributable to livestock products [greater or equal to] 32, 564 million tons”. [1].
Robert Goodland on the role of the World Bank and the World Bank's private sector affiliate, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on deforestation that occasions CH4 generation from anaerobic cellulose degradation in swamps (2007): “I worked as environmental adviser for the World Bank Group, headquartered in Washington, for 23 years. I joined because I believed the bank wanted to improve the lot of the poor and conserve the environment. Before going to Washington I did an environmental study for the government of Tucurui, the first big dam in Amazonia. A vast part of the forest was flooded, so I saw at first hand the huge environmental and social cost of misguided development projects… The bank's private sector affiliate, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), is backing oil palm plantations in Indonesia and cutting protective mangrove forests. Among the worst is financing for monoculture soya plantations in Amazonia, even though soya is suicide for Brazil's rich agricultural lands. The Bank Group is stimulating hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of cattle ranching in Amazonia, an activity I campaigned against strongly. These ranching investments violate applicable standards for both deforestation and slavery… A quarter of the Amazon forest has already been destroyed, aided and encouraged by the bank. Amazonia suffered its most devastating drought yet in 2005. The 2007 drought and fire seasons look like being even more shattering. This loss of forest is intensifying climate change, and there are reports of impending reductions in rainfall and farm yields in the rest of Brazil. While Brazil is possibly crossing the threshold into free fall, plans are being drawn for massive dam, cattle ranching and highway projects… In recent years, many stakeholders have expressed doubt that it is possible for the World Bank and IFC to serve public interest as they should. I believe they can, but only if the world's governments - the shareholders of the World Bank - demand accountability, transparency and consensual development. Citizens of every country should demand that their governments take responsibility for the Bank to end its procrastination on climate change, before it is too late.” [2].
[Editor notes: (1) 1 short ton = 0.9097 metric tonne; (2) an annual GHG pollution of 63,803 million tons CO2-e x 0.907 tonne/ton = 58,507 tonne CO2-e means the the world's terminal GHG pollution budget of 600 billion tonnes (that according to the German WBGU and the Australian Climate Commission cannot be exceeded if we are to have a 75% chance of avoiding a catastrophic 2C temperature rise; see “2011 climate change course”: https://sites.google.com/site/300orgsite/2011-climate-change-course and “Are we doomed?”: https://sites.google.com/site/300orgsite/are-we-doomed ), will be exceeded in 600,000 million tonnes/ (58,507 million tonnes per year) = 10.3 years].
[1]. Robert Goodland and Jeff Anfang. “Livestock and climate change. What if the key actors in climate change are … cows, pigs and chickens?”, World Watch, November/December 2009: http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/Livestock%20and%20Climate%20Change.pdf .
[2]. Robert Goodland, “How to aid destruction”, Guardian, 23 October 2007: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/23/comment.globalisation .