Take beef and lamb off the menu to help save the planet, says government report into green lifestyles
- People in Britain urged to curb red meat intake to meet emissions targets
- Poultry, fruit and vegetables require less land to produce, study says
- Action needed to prevent forests being cleared for farmland
- Ministers says everyone 'can prosper' while limiting temperature rises
Beef and lamb should be given the chop to help save the planet, the government has warned.
Cutting down on eating red meat in favour of more fruit and vegetables will free up land for forests to absorb greenhouse gases, a new study for the Department for Energy and Climate Change says.
People in Britain must curb their meat intake and travel less to meet emissions targets which would then allow them to have larger, warmer homes.
Cutting down on eating red meat in favour of more fruit and vegetables will free up land for forests to absorb greenhouse gases, a new study for the Department for Energy and Climate Change says
Ministers claim the report 'Prosperous living for the world in 2050' shows that limiting global temperatures to a 2°C rise can be achieved while improving living standards.
It looks at changes which can be easily made to lifestyles to reduce environmental impacts, allowing other behaviour which is less damaging.
It is claimed the Global Calculator tool, part funded by Climate-KIC, will allow to world to 'eat well, travel more, live in more comfortable homes, and meet international carbon reduction commitments'.
But it urges people to reduce beef and lamb consumption, as a key way to prevent deforestation.
In the last decade almost 200 million hectares of native forest land has been cut down, the report says, partly driven by increased demand for agricultural land.
Demand for food around the world is expected to rise by up to 45 per cent by 2050, but forests need to expand by 5-15 per cent to absorb enough carbon dioxide from the atmoshphere.
To produce a kilo of beer per year requires 28.5m² of land, compared to only 0.5m² for the same amount of fruit and vegetables
The report suggests the number of cows grazing on grassland to increase from 0.6 per hectare today to up to 1 per hectare by 2050.
'Switching away from beef consumption, towards more poultry, pork, vegetables and grains can significantly reduce the amount of land required to produce food,' the reports says.
'For example, currently an area the size of a football pitch can be used to produce 250 kg of beef, 1,000 kg of poultry (both fed on grains and residues) or 15,000 kg of fruit and vegetables.
'Decreasing the amount of meat in the global average diet would also have benefits for our climate and human health.'
Swapping from beef and lamb for poultry and pork would require much less land to produce per kilogram.
'This change in the type of meat we eat could free up 290 million hectares of land, otherwise used for animal feed and pasture, to ultimately become land for forests, which acts a carbon sink and reduces the need for abatement elsewhere.'
The World Health Organisation's definition of a healthy diet includes 2,100 calories on average, of which 160 calories is meat.
If everyone stuck to these limits it could reduce emissions by the euiavalenet of a third of total global CO2 emissions in 2011.
'Smart use of our land could ensure we can protect or even expand our forests, produce all the food we need, and increase land for bioenergy from 98 million hectares today to up to 350 million hectares by 2050.'
Energy Secretary Ed Davey insisted everyone in the world can prosper while limiting global temperature
Energy Secretary Ed Davey said: 'For the first time this Global Calculator shows that everyone in the world can prosper while limiting global temperature rises to 2°C, preventing the most serious impacts of climate change.
'Yet the calculator is also very clear that we must act now to change how we use and generate energy and how we use our land if we are going to achieve this green growth.
'The UK is leading on climate change both at home and abroad. Britain's global calculator can help the world's crucial climate debate this year. Along with the many country-based 2050 calculators we pioneered, we are working hard to demonstrate to the global family that climate action benefits people.'