The Green Economy concept has recently gained significant traction due to mounting global fears over multiple crises of climate change, energy, food and financial systems. Transitioning towards a Green Economy – an economic system in which material wealth does not increase environmental risk, ecological scarcity or social disparity – will require growth strategies in which production and consumption does not continue to come at the expense of natural capital and social equity. In the livestock sector this requires a three pronged approach: reduced consumption of livestock products; greening the intensive system as much as possible; capitalizing on the inherent sustainability of pastoralism for local, regional and international markets.

Three principal elements are essential to understand the role of pastoralism in delivering sustainable outcomes: (I) the contribution of pastoralism to the maintenance of natural capital; (II) pastoralism’s resource efficiency and sustainable production in highly variable dryland environments; (III) the conditions that enable pastoralism to deliver on its green economy potential. The objective of this study is to review the state of knowledge on these elements and reveal the key priorities for enhancing pastoralism’s role within the transition to a Green Economy.