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BBC: Plant-based diet can fight climate change

Updated: Aug 5, 2021

Switching to a plant-based diet can help fight climate change, UN experts have said.


A major report on land use and climate change says the West's high consumption of meat and dairy produce is fuelling global warming. But scientists and officials stopped short of explicitly calling on everyone to become vegan or vegetarian. They said that more people could be fed using less land if individuals cut down on eating meat. The document, prepared by 107 scientists for the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), says that if land is used more effectively, it can store more of the carbon emitted by humans.


"We're not telling people to stop eating meat. In some places people have no other choice. But it's obvious that in the West we're eating far too much," said Prof Pete Smith, an environmental scientist from Aberdeen University, UK.


We're also wasting too much food. The panel estimates that greenhouse emissions associated with food loss and waste - from field to kitchen bin - is as high as 8-10% of ALL global emissions.


The report calls for vigorous action to halt soil damage and desertification - both of which contribute to climate change.


To read the full text, visit the BBC News page.

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