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To Save the Planet From Climate Catastrophe, New Study Says Put Down the Meat.
The United Nations recently issued fresh warnings that we are running out of time to stop climate change. The massive changes needed to prevent a climate catastrophe must happen now. A new study of the global food system highlights the need of a massive reduction in meat consumption worldwide.
With the world’s population to grow to 10 billion by 2050, Options for Keeping the Food System Within Environmental Limits, was published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature. It found that fixing the climate crisis requires an overhauling of the current system. We need to shift toward more plant-based diets, improve technologies and management, and cut food waste by at least half.
“Feeding a world population of 10 billion is possible, but only if we change the way we eat and the way we produce food,”
study co-author Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany told the Guardian.
“Greening the food sector or eating up our planet: this is what is on the menu today.”
Environmentalists and experts are quick to note that urgently moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is essential to meeting the Paris climate accord goals. This new study clearly shows current meat production and consumption trends help cause the global climate crisis, particularly through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), livestock are responsible for about 14.5 percent of GHG emissions. The lead author Marco Springmann of the Oxford Martin Program on the Future of Food noted that overall food production is responsible for about a quarter of all emissions. This makes it “a major driver of climate change.”
“Adopting healthy and more plant-based diets globally could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the food system by more than half.”
—Marco Springmann, Oxford University
The team of 23 researchers from across the world found that “adopting healthy and more plant-based diets globally could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the food system by more than half. It could also reduce other environmental impacts, such as those from fertilizer, and the use of cropland and freshwater, by a tenth to a quarter.”
To achieve the climate goals, the team concluded that, “the average world citizen needs to eat 75 percent less beef, 90 percent less pork, and half the number of eggs. They also need to triple consumption of beans and pulses and quadruple nuts and seeds.” Perhaps the greatest barrier to such dramatic dietary changes is convincing farmers and consumers to alter their choices.
Comprehensive policy and business approaches will be essential to make dietary changes. Springmann explained. “Important projects include school and workplace programs, economic incentives and labeling. National dietary guidelines must also be matched with current scientific evidence on healthy eating and the environmental impacts of our diet.”
“No single solution is enough to avoid crossing planetary boundaries,” Springmann said. “But, when the solutions are implemented together, our research shows that it may be possible to feed the growing population sustainably.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/11/save-planet-climate-catastrophe-new-study-says-put-down-damn-meat
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