Twenty livestock companies emit more greenhouse gas emissions than Germany, Britain, or France. Not only that, but they receive billions of dollars of financial backing that enables them to do so. 

The "Meat Atlas," an annual compilation of scientific data on meat production and consumption, calculated that major livestock companies produced almost 932 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions. According to these same calculations, Germany's total emissions were just over 900 million tons, while France and Britain emitted close to half that.

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Between 2015 and 2020, global livestock companies received close to half a trillion dollars in backing from 2,500 investment firms, banks, and pension funds, most of which are based in North America. 

An estimated 75 billion animals are slaughtered every year to produce 325 million tons of meat. The growing demand for meat is responsible for increasing deforestation, as 75% of all agricultural land in the world is used to raise animals or to grow the crops that feed them. 

The biggest producers of meat and dairy are China, Brazil, the United States, and the EU. These countries are expected to produce 60% of the world's meat output by 2029, even though the majority of the growth in this field will take place in the global south.