Livestock is responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, two-thirds of which come from cattle alone. This is slightly more than the transport sector. A cow releases between 250 and 500 liters of methane per day and there are 1.4 billion cattle on earth: eating less meat is therefore a key point in the fight against climate change.
Significantly limiting your meat intake (especially red meats) is one of the best ways you can to act individually against climate change.
I explain to you why three arguments :
- If you go from one 150g beef steak a day to one a week, then you reduce your total carbon footprint by 15% (based on the 10 t of CO2and issued on average annually by each French person).
- The beef can optionally be replaced by poultry and pork (but not by lamb or veal), which have a footprint 10 times lower, or, even better, by legumes (lentils, chickpeas, soy, etc.).
- One kilo of beef generates between 18 and 46 kg of CO2e(1) whilea kilo of seasonal fruits and vegetables generates about 1 kg.
Each French person devours on average 84 kg of meat per year (2020 figures), twice as many as his grandparents. However, there is better since the same French consumed more than 100 kg per year in the 2000s.
Not all meat has the same carbon footprint
Since 2015, there has been a constant reduction average consumption of butcher’s meat per French person. The main meat on our plates remains pork and, fortunately, we eat less and less beef and veal but more and more poultry.
It is therefore good news, we started eating less meat, even if it is far from enough to significantly reduce our carbon footprint…
In France, consumption of beef and lamb represents an average of 650 kg of CO2e per year and per person (not including other meats, pork, lamb, poultry, etc.).
One kilo of beef is equivalent to an emission of between 18 and 46 kg of CO2and(1). This same kilo of beef also requires the equivalent of a small swimming pool (13,000 liters of water) mainly to irrigate cereals and fodder.
By comparison, poultry and pork meats have a much lower carbon footprint (less than 200 kg per year of CO₂e and per person).
Indeed, the emissions linked to the production of pork (8 kg of CO₂e emissions per kg) and poultry (4.2 kg) are more reasonable but they clearly exceed emissions associated with plant products.
Remember that when calculating the carbon footprint of meat, all direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gas that the production of this meat has generated.
Why should we eat less meat?
Beef accounts for 40% of emissions from livestock farming, yet it accounts for only 20% of total meat consumption.
CO₂ emissions from animal products greatly exceed emissions from plant products. While a kilo of fruit and vegetables generates around 1 kg of CO₂e, the same weight of beef produces 20 to 40 times more.
In question, the energy and environmental resources considerable demands for raising cattle, sheep and other meat-producing animals (yes, yes, even chickens!).
See as well :
What does a tonne of carbon equivalent (CO2e)?
4 good reasons to eat less meat
Reducing (or, let’s be crazy, eliminating) animal products from your diet saves you money and contribute to the fight against climate change.
Meat consumption is exploding around the world
While meat consumption is slowing in Europe, it is growing rapidly in developing countries like India and China and India. In this way, 80 billion farm animals(2) are slaughtered each year, mainly poultry, but also pigs, rabbits, cattle and sheep.
The meat is increasingly present on our plates. World meat production now stands at 300 million tonnes per year. If the trends are confirmed, it could exceed 450 million tonnes in 2050 in a world of more than 9 billion inhabitants
Faced with the increase in intensive livestock farming, voices are being raised among citizens, NGOs and international organizations to reduce or eliminate meat consumption or find new ways of producing it while respecting the environment and the – to be animal.
(1) Depending on sources and breeding and transport conditions (see the article)
(2) L214, animal protection association (2019)