East Asian governments now have a price tag for not fixing livestock.

The World Bank calculated the economic cost of doing nothing about livestock emissions and health in East Asia. It turns out, ignoring the problem will cost more than fixing it.

Governments in East Asia could argue that transforming their livestock sectors was too expensive. This paper removes that argument. It quantifies the financial burden of disease, climate shocks, and lost productivity if current practices continue. This means development banks and national governments now have a clear economic justification to fund major changes in how meat and dairy are produced.