Reducing meat consumption equivalent to taking 8mn cars off road: Study

New research conducted by Oxford University has shed light on the significant environmental impact of meat consumption. The study provides a comprehensive assessment of how our dietary choices affect the planet.

The study reveals that reducing meat consumption, particularly among heavy meat eaters, could yield substantial benefits for the environment, equivalent to taking 8 million cars off the road.

Despite the meat industry's scepticism about the study's findings, the evidence calls for urgent action to address the environmental consequences of our dietary habits.

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How high meat consumption leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions

The Oxford University study distinguishes between high-meat and low-meat diets, focusing on their respective greenhouse gas emissions.

Professor Peter Scarborough, leading the research, stresses that a notable reduction in meat intake among big meat eaters can significantly contribute to combating climate change.

The analysis takes into account the daily greenhouse gas emissions of different diet categories: High meat eaters produce an average of 10.24 kg of planet-warming gases per day, while low meat eaters generate nearly half that amount at 5.37 kg.

Vegan diets have the lowest impact, producing only 2.47 kg per day.

Other types of pollution associated with meat production

The research goes beyond assessing greenhouse gas emissions, analysing the detailed impact of diets on various environmental measures, including land use, water use, water pollution, and loss of species due to massive production of meat and other farming-related practices.

Watch:Climate impact labels could help people eat less red meat

In all aspects, high meat eaters had significantly higher adverse impacts compared to other diet groups.

Meat industry objects

The meat industry has raised its objections against the study, which they say "is incomplete."

Nick Allen, CEO of the British Meat Processors Association said, ''One of the frustrations with a report like this is that it looks just at the emissions from livestock production. It doesn't take into account that carbon gets absorbed into the grassland, trees and hedgerows [on farms]. If they took those sums into account you would probably have a different picture,'' he said.

However, Professor Scarborough and other studies counter this argument, suggesting that the impact of CO2 uptake by grasslands is modest in the overall equation.

A third of global greenhouse gas emissions linked to food production

The study aligns with a previous Nature Food publication, which attributed a third of global greenhouse gas emissions to food production.

Additionally, an independent review for the UK's Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) proposed a 30 per cent reduction in meat consumption by 2032 to achieve the country's net-zero target.

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