New leather study ‘doubles climate cost’

ITHACA — A new peer‑reviewed study has more than doubled the globally representative carbon footprint of cow‑derived leather, challenging long‑standing industry claims that hides are a by‑product of the meat and dairy industries.

Published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, the paper by Mikaila Roncevich of Cornell University and Matthew Hayek of New York University uses UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) livestock data to recalculate emissions from the farming phase of bovine leather.