By Emily Gosden, From The Telegraph – [November 24th 2015]
Meat should be taxed to help tackle global warming, a leading think-tank has suggested, as it urged ministers to also reduce the amount of meat served in schools and hospitals.
Proceeds from a tax on meat could be used to subsidise healthier alternatives that are less damaging to the environment, such as fruit, vegetables and tofu, researchers from Chatham House said.
A “carbon tax” of £1.76 per kilo on the price of beef could reduce consumption by 14 per cent, a study they highlighted suggests.
In a report, the think-tank argues that the livestock sector has been “almost completely overlooked” in efforts to tackle climate change, despite the fact it accounts for about 15 per cent of global greenhouse emissions – the same proportion as direct emissions from cars, planes, trains and ships combined.
Beef and lamb production are the worst for the environment, with emissions generated both in the production of the large quantities of animal feed and from the digestive systems of cattle and sheep directly.
A carbon tax on meat would be one of the “most effective” policies to reduce meat consumption, the researchers said, and would also bring public health benefits, as average Britons eat about twice the amount of meat that is thought to be healthy.
The researchers acknowledged the policy would be one of the most unpopular options for reducing meat consumption but said focus group research suggested that “governments overestimate the public backlash that would follow from price increases and limits on food choices”.
Public procurement also presented a major opportunity to influence diets by reducing the amount of meat and offering more vegetarian alternatives in places such as school, hospitals, prisons and the armed forces, they said.
Current global pledges to tackle climate change by cutting emissions – primarily in the power and transport sectors – are forecast to put the world on track for 2.7C warming this century.
According to the report, limiting global meat consumption to healthy levels could provide one-quarter of the further emissions cuts needed to limit warming to the 2C level that scientists say should not be exceeded if the world wants to avoid the most dangerous effects of climate change.