Environmental vegetarianism

All types of meat but especially lamb and beef generate several times more greenhouse gas emissions in their production than plant-based foods.[1]

Environmental vegetarianism is the practice of vegetarianism that is motivated by the desire to create a sustainable diet, which avoids the negative environmental impact of meat production. Livestock as a whole is estimated to be responsible for around 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions.[2][a] As a result, significant reduction in meat consumption has been advocated by, among others, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in their 2019 special report[3] and as part of the 2017 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity.[4][5]

Other than climate change, the livestock industry is the primary driver behind biodiversity loss and deforestation and is significantly relevant to environmental concerns such as water and land use, pollution, and unsustainability.[6][7][8][9]

  1. ^ Stephen Clune; Enda Crossin; Karli Verghese (1 January 2017). "Systematic review of greenhouse gas emissions for different fresh food categories" (PDF). Journal of Cleaner Production. 140 (2): 766–783. Bibcode:2017JCPro.140..766C. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.04.082.
  2. ^ "Key facts and findings". Food and Agriculture Organization. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  3. ^ Schiermeier, Quirin (8 August 2019). "Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet". Nature. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Climate change food calculator: What's your diet's carbon footprint?". 13 December 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  5. ^ Ripple WJ, Wolf C, Newsome TM, Galetti M, Alamgir M, Crist E, Mahmoud MI, Laurance WF (13 November 2017). "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice". BioScience. 67 (12): 1026–1028. doi:10.1093/biosci/bix125. hdl:11336/71342.
  6. ^ Carrington, Damian (3 February 2021). "Plant-based diets crucial to saving global wildlife, says report". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Poore was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Bittman, Mark (27 January 2008). "Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2017 – via www.nytimes.com.
  9. ^ Carrington, Damian (10 October 2018). "Huge reduction in meat-eating 'essential' to avoid climate breakdown". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2019.


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