If we don't eat less meat, we can say goodbye to climate protection
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
According to a Swedish study, only by eating less beef and fewer dairy products will we be able to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
If we don't eat less meat, we can say goodbye to climate protection
According to a Swedish study, only by eating less beef and fewer dairy products will we be able to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
If Europe wants to meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, its citizens will need to cut their consumption of beef and dairy products. In other words, climate protection cannot be separated from a change in our eating habits. This is explained by a scientific study produced by the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, which highlights how the farming and livestock industries are today responsible for a quarter of the harmful emissions released into the environment across EU territory.
Without action, harmful emissions will double
The sector – explain the report's authors, who specialise in environmental economics and biology – will need to cut its contribution to air pollution by a factor of four. The agri-food industry represents a genuine threat to the entire world, given that, if no changes are introduced to current production methods (and volumes), emissions of nitrous oxide from agricultural land and methane from farms could double by 2070: "This would make it essentially impossible to meet the targets set for emission reductions."
Consequently, the study continues, "a substantial reduction, of 50 per cent or more, in the consumption of ruminant meat will in all likelihood be unavoidable." As will a decline in dairy production. According to Stefan Wirsenius, one of the scientists who signed the document, it will be necessary at the very least to "favour other types of meat that are less harmful to the environment." The Swedish analysis points out that producing one kilogram of beef requires emissions of around two hundred kilograms of CO2 (compared to ten and thirty respectively for the same quantity of pork and chicken, for example).
15,500 litres of water are needed for one kilogram of meat
But that is not all. According to another analysis, produced by the NGO Friends of the Earth, that same kilogram of beef requires 15,500 litres of water before it can reach our tables. The same amount of water can guarantee the production of twelve kilograms of wheat or even more than one hundred kilograms of carrots.
Not to mention that today around 40 per cent of the annual production of wheat, rye, oats and maize is destined for use as animal feed. Which means that humanity prefers to pass enormous quantities of food through the stomachs of cows rather than eating it directly.