Climate change report addresses diet, food waste
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (I.P.C.C.) approved a special report asserting the world’s nations must urgently address the current and potential impacts of climate change on the land and food. During 2010-16, global food loss and waste were responsible for 8% to 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions, halving food loss and waste reduces the global need for cropland area by around 14% and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and land use change by 22% to 28% compared with some baseline scenarios by 2050.
A systematic review found that higher consumption of animal-based foods was associated with higher estimated environmental impact, whereas increased consumption of plant-based foods was associated with an estimated lower environmental impact. Assessment of individual foods within these broad categories showed that meat — especially ruminant meat (beef and lamb) — was consistently identified as the single food with the greatest impact on the environment, on a global basis, most often in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and/or land use. Furthermore, there also was a significant potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions if consumers abided by dietary recommendations based on health priorities already established by many national governments.
