Following the publication of a study on the pathways enabling Belgium to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, Benoît Cassart, MR Member of the European Parliament, calls for a global approach to livestock farming and its environmental impact.
Among the scenarios studied is a significant reduction in Belgium's livestock: up to -71% cattle, -70% pigs, -45% dairy cows and -28% broiler chickens and laying hens. The scenario is also based on a shift in eating habits towards a diet made up of 62% plant-based protein and 38% animal protein.
In an interview with Sillon Belge, Benoît Cassart warns against an approach that would sharply reduce European livestock farming without taking global consequences into account.
“In 1961, France had 19 million cattle, Brazil 56 million. In 2025, France has 15 million, while Brazil has 235 million. In Belgium, between 1992 and 2022, the number fell from 3 million to 2 million cattle. All across Europe, cattle farming continues to decline,” he points out.
For the MR MEP, reducing European production only to import more would not necessarily reduce the overall environmental footprint of our food. He therefore calls for an analysis that also takes into account carbon storage by grasslands, biodiversity, soil quality, the water cycle and food security.
“We're not saying nothing should be done, but we need to think globally!” insists Benoît Cassart.
His message: continue efforts to reduce agricultural emissions, while ensuring that production and its environmental footprint are not simply shifted outside Europe.
Read the full interview with Benoît Cassart in Le Sillon Belge