Meat and Climate Change

Curbing the world’s huge and increasing appetite for meat is essential to avoid devastating climate change, according to an analysis fromthe think-tank Chatham House. The global livestock industry produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all cars, planes, trains and ships combined, but twice as many people think transport is the bigger contributor to global warming. The report concludes: “Dietary change is essential if global warming is not to exceed 2C.”

“Preventing catastrophic warming is dependent on tackling meat and dairy consumption, but the world is doing very little,” said Rob Bailey, the report’s lead author. “A lot is being done on deforestation and transport, but there is a huge gap on the livestock sector. There is a deep reluctance to engage because of the received wisdom that it is not the place of governments or civil society to intrude into people’s lives and tell them what to eat.”

Emissions from livestock currently make up almost 15% of global emissions. Beef and dairy alone make up 65% of all livestock emissions. Recent scientific studies show that soaring meat demand in China and elsewhere could tip the world’s climate into chaos. Appetite for meat is rocketing as the global population swells and becomes more able to afford meat. Meat consumption is on track to rise 75% by 2050, and dairy 65%, compared with 40% for cereals. By 2020, China alone is expected to be eating 20m tonnes more of meat and dairy a year.

Prof Keith Richards, at the University of Cambridge and one of the researchers behind the two key scientific studies, which calculated that, without severe cuts in this trend, agricultural emissions will take up the entire world’s carbon budget by 2050, with livestock a major contributor. This would mean every other sector, including energy, industry and transport, would have to be zero carbon, which is described as “impossible”, said: “This is not a radical vegetarian argument; it is an argument about eating meat in sensible amounts as part of healthy, balanced diets.”

SOYMB is skeptical that taking into consideration the political and economic clout of the food industry that they would willingly submit to restrictions in their business growth and profit potentials. For serious reduction in meat consumption, there will be a need for more collective decision making on all the aspects of our food production and that is only going to be possible with a socialist society where needs and consequences will be balanced