A major new study has found that huge reductions in meat consumption are essential to avoid dangerous climate change. The research, published in the journal Nature, is the most comprehensive analysis yet of the food system's impact on the environment. It warns that without action, the growing global population and rising incomes will push the planet beyond critical environmental limits.
Lead author Marco Springmann from the University of Oxford said the findings were 'pretty shocking' and that humanity is 'really risking the sustainability of the whole system'. The study recommends that in western countries, beef consumption must fall by 90% and be replaced by five times more beans and pulses. Globally, a shift to a 'flexitarian' diet is needed, with the average person eating 75% less beef, 90% less pork, and half the number of eggs, while tripling consumption of beans and pulses.
The research also calls for enormous changes in farming practices, including increasing crop yields in poorer nations, better water storage, and more careful use of fertilisers. These measures are needed to halt deforestation, water shortages, and pollution. About a third of food produced today is wasted, and reducing this waste is also seen as crucial.
Professor Johan Rockström from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said: 'Feeding a world population of 10 billion is possible, but only if we change the way we eat and the way we produce food.' The study follows a UN report that warned there are just 12 years to keep global warming under 1.5C, beyond which risks of drought, floods and extreme heat increase significantly.
