Eating less meat reduces one’s CO2 footprint, but with trade-offs

In 10 seconds? Climate activists advocate to dramatically reduce our meat consumption to help lower agricultural carbon emissions. Scientists have compared four diets and found that some eco-friendly diets have surprise environmental impacts.

What’s the urgency? Climate change endangers the food security of the growing global population while industrial agriculture, especially livestock significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. For example, an average European Union citizen consumes 950 Kg of food per year, which translated to nearly 27% of the overall food-related environmental footprints, such as acidification, land, and water use. The food system of our planet is currently threatening both human health and environmental sustainability.