Ex-officials at UN farming body say work on methane emissions was censored

Cows require vast amounts of land to graze, which is a major cause of deforestation and they also emit methane, a potent planet-warming gas. Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

Former officials in the UN’s farming wing have said they were censored, sabotaged, undermined and victimised for more than a decade after they wrote about the hugely damaging contribution of methane emissions from livestock to global heating.

Team members at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) tasked with estimating cattle’s contribution to soaring temperatures said that pressure from farm-friendly funding states was felt throughout the FAO’s Rome headquarters and coincided with attempts by FAO leadership to muzzle their work.