The meat-eating vs global warming debate
21 September 2009
WWF and the Food Ethics Council have kick-started a serious discussion on the connections between eating meat or dairy products and climate change.
In the UK, the food we eat accounts for around a fifth of our total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and a large proportion of that is related to meat and dairy consumption.
Our new report – ‘Livestock Consumption and Climate Change: A Framework for Dialogue’ – is aimed at getting farmers, policy makers and environmental groups talking together about this issue.
The report highlights the efforts already being made by the food industry – including farmers, processors and retailers – to reduce the GHG ‘footprint’ of meat and dairy products.
It also lists 27 suggestions for changes to all our eating habits to help cut those emissions – from financial and political measures to raise prices on high-emission products, to influencing consumer behaviour more directly.
Promoting sustainable consumption
The government recognises its responsibility for promoting sustainable consumption and production, so the report focuses on how this might be achieved.
Head of WWF’s One Planet Food programme, Mark Driscoll, says: “Producers, processors and retailers are already making progress in terms of reducing emissions from their businesses and products. But until now they have had little guidance on the possibilities of making further reductions through changes in consumer behaviour. It’s up to government to give them that direction.
“This report provides a useful starting point for that process. It doesn’t provide all the answers, but we hope it will stimulate a positive, productive and open debate involving every rung of the food chain.”
The new report was commissioned from the Food Ethics Council (FEC) as part of WWF’s One Planet Food programme. The FEC is an independent advisory body that works towards a food system that’s fair and healthy for people and the environment.
WWF’s One Planet Food initiative helps guide and support the development of a food system that can meet the UK’s nutritional, social and economic needs, while reducing environmental impacts.
We believe greenhouse gas emissions from the production and consumption of food should be reduced 25% by 2020 and at least 70% by 2050, based on 1990 levels.
You can…
- measure your footprint
- change the way you live
- vote earth for a global climate deal
- read the report in full
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