Editing Meat (section)

=== Climate change ===

{{See also |Livestock's Long Shadow}}

[[File:Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage.png|thumb |[[Life-cycle assessment]] of GHG emissions for foods. Beef is the food with the largest carbon footprint, mainly due to [[methane emissions|methane production from cows]].]]

The rising global consumption of [[emission intensity|carbon-intensive]] meat products has "exploded the global carbon footprint of agriculture," according to some top scientists.<ref>{{cite news |last=Weston |first=Phoebe |date=January 13, 2021 |title=Top scientists warn of 'ghastly future of mass extinction' and climate disruption |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/top-scientists-warn-of-ghastly-future-of-mass-extinction-and-climate-disruption-aoe |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=January 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Corey J. A. |last2=Ehrlich |first2=Paul R. |last3=Beattie |first3=Andrew |last4=Ceballos |first4=Gerardo |last5=Crist |first5=Eileen |last6=Diamond |first6=Joan |last7=Dirzo |first7=Rodolfo |last8=Ehrlich |first8=Anne H. |last9=Harte |first9=John |last10=Harte |first10=Mary Ellen |last11=Pyke |first11=Graham |last12=Raven |first12=Peter H. |last13=Ripple |first13=William J. |last14=Saltré |first14=Frédérik |last15=Turnbull |first15=Christine |last16=Wackernagel |first16=Mathis |last17=Blumstein |first17=Daniel T. |display-authors=6 |year=2021 |title=Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future |journal=Frontiers in Conservation Science |volume=1 |doi=10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Meat production is responsible for some 35% of global emissions of greenhouse gases, and 60% of the greenhouse gases attributable to food production.<ref name="Milman 2021">{{cite news |last1=Milman |first1=Oliver |title=Meat accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouse gases from food production, study finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/13/meat-greenhouses-gases-food-production-study |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=13 September 2021 |quote=Source: Xu, et al., 2021, 'Global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods'}}</ref>

Some nations show very different impacts to counterparts within the same group, with Brazil and Australia having emissions over 200% higher than the average of their respective income groups, driven by meat consumption.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Behrens |first1=Paul |last2=Jong |first2=Jessica C. Kiefte-de |last3=Bosker |first3=Thijs |last4=Rodrigues |first4=João F.D. |last5=Koning |first5=Arjan de |last6=Tukker |first6=Arnold |date=December 19, 2017 |title=Evaluating the environmental impacts of dietary recommendations |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=114 |issue=51 |pages=13412–17 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1711889114 |pmid=29203655 |pmc=5754780 |bibcode=2017PNAS..11413412B |doi-access=free}}</ref>

According to the ''[[Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption and Production]]'' report produced by [[United Nations Environment Programme]]'s (UNEP) international panel for sustainable resource management, a worldwide transition in the direction of a meat and dairy free diet is indispensable if adverse global climate change were to be prevented.<ref name="TG-20100602">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet |title=UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet |last=Carus |first=Felicity |date=June 2, 2010 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=June 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303145344/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet |archive-date=March 3, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> A 2019 report in ''[[The Lancet]]'' recommended that global meat (and sugar) consumption be reduced by 50 percent to [[Climate change mitigation|mitigate climate change]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Gibbens |first=Sarah |date=January 16, 2019 |title=Eating meat has 'dire' consequences for the planet, says report |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/commission-report-great-food-transformation-plant-diet-climate-change/ |work=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |access-date=February 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203030847/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/commission-report-great-food-transformation-plant-diet-climate-change/ |archive-date=February 3, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Meat consumption in Western societies needs to be reduced by up to 90% according to a 2018 study published in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Willett |first1=Walter |last2=Rockström |first2=Johan |last3=Tilman |first3=David |last4=Godfray |first4=H. Charles J. |last5=Fanzo |first5=Jess |last6=Loken |first6=Brent |last7=Rayner |first7=Mike |last8=Scarborough |first8=Peter |last9=Zurayk |first9=Rami |date=October 2018 |title=Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits |journal=Nature |volume=562 |issue=7728 |pages=519–525 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0594-0 |pmid=30305731 |bibcode=2018Natur.562..519S |s2cid=52954514 |url=https://publications.pik-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_22704 }}</ref> The 2019 special report by the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]] called for significantly reducing meat consumption, particularly in wealthy countries, in order to mitigate and adapt to climate change.<ref name="10.1038/d41586-019-02409-7">{{cite journal |last=Schiermeier |first=Quirin |date=August 8, 2019 |title=Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02409-7 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=572 |issue=7769 |pages=291–292 |access-date=August 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809164640/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02409-7 |archive-date=August 9, 2019 |url-status=live |doi=10.1038/d41586-019-02409-7 |pmid=31409926 |bibcode=2019Natur.572..291S |s2cid=199543066 }}</ref>