Nairobi, May 28 -- The Kenyan government's intention to comply with its international climate commitments, including the Global Methane Pledge, has inevitably put the pastoralists in the spotlight.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the Global South are a very small contribution to human-made climate change. Yet emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that represents 25 percent of total global warming, are attributed a much higher weight in low-income countries, precisely because of the relative economic importance of grazing livestock. Pastoralism is hence targeted as a primary objective for emission reductions-but is such attribution fair?

Pastoralism in Kenya exists primarily within arid and semi-arid lands, which make up nearly 8...