Alt-Protein Key to Transforming Food Systems and Fighting Climate Catastrophe, Shows IPCC Report
Plant-based and cultivated meat could play a crucial role in future-proofing our food systems and reducing emissions.
Human-induced climate change is already wreking havoc on ecosystems worldwide and disrupting the lives of billions of people, according to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
People and ecosystems least able to cope with the grave threats posed by climate change are being hit the hardest, with UN Secretary General António Guterres describing the new report as an “atlas of human suffering,” and a “damning indictment of failed climate leadership.”
With a rapidly narrowing window of time to “secure a liveable and sustainable future for all”, the report highlights solutions and strategies needed to deal with the increasing risks.
“This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. “It shows that climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet. Our actions today will shape how people adapt and nature responds to increasing climate risks.”
One of the key focuses on the report, written by 270 scientists from 67 countries, is the world food systems. As per the report, the climate crisis has piled pressure on food production, exposed millions of people to food and water insecurity, and increased food-borne diseases.
The report also highlights the dangerous inefficiencies of our current food production methods, which account for more than a third (37 percent) of global greenhouse gas emissions. Over half (57 percent) is due to animal-based foods such as meat and dairy. In response to this, climate scientists have acknowledged, in chapter five of the IPCC report, the role plant-based and cultivated meat could play in future-proofing our food system.
The Good Food Institute (GFI), a nonprofit working internationally to accelerate alternative protein innovation, has provided insights into the IPCC report, illustrating how cultivated and plant-based meat alternatives can help transform the world’s food systems.
Despire on providing 18 percent of the world’s, calories, 77 percent of agricultural land is used for animal agriculture. Cultivated meat could lead to significant reduction in land use for pastures and crop-based animal feeds, according to GFI. In fact, data shows cultivated meat could cut land use requirements by up to 95 percent (as per the chart below) and water use by 78 percent.
How plant-based foods are displayed on a menu significatly impacts whether or not customers will choose to order them. Having multiple meat-free dishes, high menu placing, and relative pricing are all said to be factors when it comes to influencing people to comsume plant-based options. Interestingly, studies simply educating people about the negative health and climate outcomes of meat consumption have been found to have very little impact.
Solutions are the way forward
The GFI is calling on governments to invest in open-access R&D in plant-based and cultivated meat as key climate solutions. This will reduce emissions and advance adaptation measures, while also addressing the increasing risk of pandemics, antibiotic resistance, and food insecurity, according to GFI.
“It’s encouraging that the world’s top scientists have acknowledged the role plant-based and cultivated meat could play in future-proofing our food system. Now governments need to weave these sustainable proteins into their strategies for adaptation and reducing emissions,” said Seren Kell, Science and Technology Manager at the GFI Europe. “The IPCC has made clear that ‘transformation of food systems is needed’ if we’re to stand a chance of feeding a growing population on a warming planet – and these foods can ease that transformation by satisfying growing demand for meat in a more sustainable way.
“Plant-based and cultivated meat can help to make food supplies less vulnerable to extreme weather, conserve precious water resources, make balanced diets more affordable for people around the world, and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases.
“To build more resilient food systems while freeing up land to restore nature, governments around the world must invest in the research and infrastructure needed to make them accessible and affordable to all.”
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