Helen Harwatt

Switching from eating ‘land-hungry’ meat and dairy produce to foodstuffs like beans, lentils and nuts could remove 16 years’ worth of CO2 emissions by 2050. Researchers from the US calculated that broad uptake of such plant-based protein alternatives could free up land to support more ecosystems that absorb carbon. At present, around 83 per cent of the world’s agricultural land is given over to meat and dairy-based production — much of which only produce low yields. Reducing this figure, the team said, is a better way to combat climate change than waiting for ‘unproven’ large-scale technologies like atmospheric CO2 extractors. "The greatest potential for forest regrowth, and the climate benefits it entails, exists in high- and upper-middle income countries," said paper author and environmental scientist Matthew Hayek of New York University. These, he added, are "places where scaling back on land-hungry meat and dairy would have relatively minor impacts on food security." In the study, Professor Hayek and colleagues mapped out the areas of the globe where land use for animal-sourced food production has squeezed out native vegetation, such as forests. This allowed the team to determine where a shift in our diets to more plant-based foodstuffs could allow natural ecosystems to be restored — helping to offset global carbon dioxide emissions in the process... "We now know that intact, functioning ecosystems and appropriate wildlife habitat ranges help reduce the risk of pandemics," added environmental social scientist and Helen Harwatt of the Harvard Law School, a co-author on the study. "When coupled with reduced livestock populations, restoration reduces disease transmission from wildlife to pigs, chickens, and cows, and ultimately to humans." The full findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Sustainability.

Livestock production needs to reach its peak within the next decade in order to tackle the climate emergency, scientists have warned. They are calling for governments in all but the poorest countries to set a date for “peak meat” because animal agriculture is a significant and fast-growing source of global greenhouse gas emissions. Cattle and sheep emit large amounts of methane while forests are destroyed to create pasture and grow the grains that are fed to intensively reared animals... “Countries should be looking for peak livestock within the next 10 years,” said Helen Harwatt, a fellow at Harvard Law School in the US and lead author of the letter. “This is because we need steep and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, as we are reaching dangerous temperature tipping points.”