the solution to saving the climate, really?

In the west of France, a breeder watches over 90,000 chickens. In less than a month, their weight will more than triple and their meat will have a reduced carbon footprint. “ The goal is to make the best meat possible, in the shortest time possible and with the least amount of food possible. », summarizes Stéphane Dahirel, 56 years old, at the head of this operation in central Brittany.

The white plumage of the poultry is sparse: they have hatched 20 days ago. But they already weigh almost a kilo, 20 times more than at birth. When they are slaughtered, at 45 days old, they will weigh more than 3 kilos. Their large breasts will produce a lot of fillets – the part most appreciated by Western consumers – which will end up as “nuggets” at McDonald’s.

This accelerated yield allows chicken to have the lowest carbon footprint of meat, in France or elsewhere. Eaten on all continents, chicken would therefore be a solution from a strictly climatic point of view, if it were to replace beef… Not insignificant, when we know that livestock farming represents 12% of human greenhouse gas emissions , according to the latest estimate published Friday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The carbon footprint of chicken

But to have chickens, you have to produce the grains that feed them, therefore cultivating large areas, spreading synthetic fertilizers, pesticides… With consequences on biodiversity, water quality, deforestation. Not to mention animal welfare. According to the FAO, chicken meat generates on average less than one kilogram of CO equivalent₂ (CO²e) for each kilo produced. It’s triple that for pork, and 52 times more for beef — cows are penalized by their burps loaded with methane, a very warming gas. Chicken does even better than rice, due to the methane released from rice fields. And the more intensively the poultry are raised, the better their carbon footprint.

Ventilation, temperature, water and feed quality… Stéphane Dahirel monitors all the parameters to obtain the best yield from the half-million animals he produces per year in his three buildings. Chickens (20 per m²) evolve on a litter where droppings mix with wood shavings and buckwheat husks. Those who are disabled or sickly are eliminated to shorten their suffering but also because the slaughterhouse, which is highly automated, requires standardized specimens. “ These are not bolts, of course, but we are looking for homogeneity », explains the producer from the veranda of his house which overlooks one of the livestock buildings topped with photovoltaic panels. For him, ” it is the most efficient, the most rational system, from an economic and ecological point “.

Is eating chicken the miracle solution for the climate?

Chicken, an optimal animal protein for the climate… but not necessarily for nature. “ If we reason only by looking at CO emissions₂ per kilo of meat, we will all start eating chicken, we might have the impression that we have the solution and we would be making a monumental mistake », Estimates Pierre-Marie Aubert, of the Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (Iddri). “ If you only think about carbon, a lot of things will work against you in the long term », continues Mr. Aubert, who considers the progression of the chicken on the plates “delirious”.

Chicken, devoid of religious or cultural restrictions, is already one of the most consumed meats in the world alongside pork. Its production continues to increase and is expected to reach more than 103 million tonnes annually (excluding legs) in 2024, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Raising animals consumes resources

“ There has been so much emphasis on ruminant emissions that many people think that substituting chicken for beef is enough, but it is the total meat consumption that must be reduced », Notes Lucile Rogissart, researcher at the Institute of Economics for the Climate. Raising fewer animals means consuming fewer resources. Without banning cows which have the particular merit – when they graze – of providing proteins from plants not consumable by humans.

“ Making food choices based on just one criterion is never a good idea », concludes Anne Mottet, of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Fida), one of the United Nations food agencies. An example: beef is certainly fatter and more emitting than white meat, but “ a little red meat » remains useful against iron deficiency, which affects a third of women.