We recently asked the lovely folk in our test community a few questions, with the aim of uncovering key areas for plant-based innovators to prioritise when developing delicious new products. It came as no surprise to us when we read the significant number of comments pleading with us to encourage companies to invest in making all manner of plant-based cheese – from camembert to mozzarella – tastier, more available, and more affordable. Not only do so many of us find cheese the hardest animal product to give up, we also find it the hardest one to replace. Lose, lose. But does it have to be this way?

To the advantage of all those budding, plant-based cheese startups on the brink of disrupting the traditional cheese industry (we know you’re out there), a whopping 90% of consumers agreed that taste was either very important (70%) or important (20%) when shopping for food, while a mere 11% claimed that price was very important to them. Do you hear that entrepreneurs? We’ll make you rich if your cheese makes us melt.

Besides taste, nutritional value and the sustainability of  a product both proved to be front-of-mind for our health- and eco-conscious respondents when making purchase decisions. This is further reflected by the fact that around half of respondents agreed that ‘organic’, ‘no added sugar’, ‘locally sourced’, and ‘all natural ingredients’ claims make them more likely to purchase a food item. Interestingly, the actual brand was the least significant factor for our respondents, with 70% rating it of little or no importance, suggesting that new kids on the block won’t have to battle it out too much with incumbents to secure a portion of the pie.

To sum up, there are dairy-free profits waiting to be claimed by companies selling delectable, sustainable, and nutritionally sound plant-based cheese products. And once they’re done with that, perhaps it’s time to conquer the other frequently mentioned categories for plant-based innovation: baked goods, fish and seafood, and eggs!  

3 Ways that animal agriculture destroys forests

A study published by the World Resources Institute pointed out that the conservation, restoration, and improved management of tropical forests and wetlands could provide 23% of mitigation action needed by 2030 in order to limit global warming to 2°C.¹Wolosin, M., and N. Harris. 2018. “Tropical Forests and Climate Change: The Latest Science” Working Paper. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. Available online at wri.org/ending-tropical-deforestation.  Animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of rainforest degradation and contributes to climate change by:

1. Driving Deforestation Rates Up: in the Amazon alone, an area more than twice the size of the territory of Germany has lost its native vegetation. Cattle ranching is one of main leading causes, according to the Amazon Environmental Research Institute.²IPAM. 2017. “A Pathway to Zero Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.” Amazon Environmental Research Institute 

2. Destroying Biodiversity: forest ecosystems harbour two-thirds of the earth’s known terrestrial species.³Steinfeld, H., Gerber, P., Wassenaar, T. D., Castel, V. & de Haan, C. Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options. (Food & Agriculture Org., 2006).  The Amazon rainforest is home to the richest biodiversity of any ecosystem on the planet. Habitat loss due to deforestation strongly affects biodiversity – a crucial component for the healthy functioning of forests. Yet cattle ranching continues to cause extensive deforestation to the Amazon and to Latin America generally.

3. Conflict with Indigenous Groups: the increasing presence of slaughterhouses in the Amazon rainforest is contributing to the weakening of indigenous rights since the opening of land for animal farming and feed crops often coincide with indigenous peoples’ territories.⁴IPAM. 2017. “A Pathway to Zero Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.” Amazon Environmental Research Institute.  The protection of indigenous rights is recognized as one of the best ways to protect rainforests.⁵https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/news/2016/10/statement-of-ms-victoria-tauli-corpuz-special-rapporteur-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples-at-the-71st-session-of-the-general-assembly/

Can a plant-based diet save our forests?

A study published by Elementa in 2016 shows that a more plant-based diet can help to decrease land requirements in the USA.⁶Peters, Christian J., Jamie Picardy, Jennifer L. Wilkins, Timothy S. Griffin, Gary W. Fick, and Amelia F. Darrouzet-Nardi. “Carrying capacity of US agricultural land: Ten diet scenarios.” Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 4, no. 1 (2016): 1.  Under scenarios of reduced meat consumption, more people could be fed using less land than under the scenario of current meat consumption.

Pasture expansion and the production of feed crops are currently two of the main drivers of deforestation in the Amazon. A more plant-based diet can help to decrease the demand for grazing and perennial croplands and, consequently, alleviate the anthropogenic pressure on rainforests.

Plant-based diets have numerous positive effects on the environment, including the preservation of biodiversity, more sustainable use of resources, and combating climate change. ProVeg raises awareness about the climate impact of our food choices. At the next Climate Change Conference, COP24 in Katowice (Poland), ProVeg will continue to work intensively on the topic and pursue political dialogue in a targeted manner. Learn more about how to move towards a more plant-based diet.

Let’s change our diet, not the climate! You can make a difference. Please sign the petition to the United Nations to put animal agriculture onto the Climate Agenda at COP24.

Words by Karina Vieira

The impact of the meat industry on climate

The fossil fuel industry is not the only industry that is setting the course of our planet on a path to disaster. A study published by the American Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy found that even if the energy and transport sectors successfully cut their emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, we will still fail to prevent catastrophic climate change as long as the livestock sector carries on with business as usual. According to recent studies, the three biggest meat companies emitted quantities of greenhouse gases comparable to some of the world’s biggest oil companies. ¹GRAIN. Big meat and dairy’s supersized climate footprint. (GRAIN, IATP and Heinrich Böll Foundation, 2017).   If the demand for animal products continues to rise, the livestock sector as a whole could consume 80% of the planet’s annual greenhouse gas budget by 2050. ²IATP. Emissions impossible: How big meat and dairy are heating up the planet. (Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy, 2018)

Pastures or Forests?

Since the last ice age, four-fifths of all forests have been destroyed or are no longer intact – and the production of meat along with livestock feed is one the main contributing factors. ³Hirschberger, P. & Schweiz, W. W. F. Die Wälder der Welt – ein Zustandsbericht: Globale Waldzerstörung und ihre Auswirkungen auf Klima, Mensch und Natur. (2011)  ⁴Brack, D., Wellesley, L. & Glover, A. Agricultural Commodity Supply Chains: Trade, Consumption and Deforestation. (2015)  Pastures occupy more than 26% of the planet’s terrestrial ice-free surface, making the livestock sector the single largest user of land resources on the planet.⁵Food and Agriculture Organization. The State of Food and Agriculture 2009: Livestock in the Balance. (Food & Agriculture Org, 2009).  If the rates of deforestation associated with animal farming activities continue to grow, soon the amount of land used for pasture will exceed the amount of land occupied by the world’s forests (which corresponds to 30% of the world’s terrestrial surface).

Water Depletion

A third of the world’s freshwater is used in order to produce animal products.⁶Gerbens-Leenes, P. W., Mekonnen, M. M. & Hoekstra, A. Y. The water footprint of poultry, pork and beef: A comparative study in different countries and production systems. Water Resources and Industry 1-2, 25–36 (2013).  The efficiency of our water usage can improve if we decrease the demand for animal products. Any animal product has a higher food-related water impact than that of a wisely chosen plant-based product with equivalent nutritional value. A single kilocalorie of animal products requires about 2.5 litres of water on average, while plant-based products such as cereals, roots, fruits, and vegetables, use only about half a litre of water per kilocalorie.⁷Hoekstra, A. Y. The hidden water resource use behind meat and dairy. Animal Frontiers 2, 3–8 (2012) 

Plant-based Diet and Sustainability

ProVeg helps to increase awareness of the environmental impacts of eating meat and to incentivise people to adopt a more plant-based diet. Decreasing the demand for animal products can lower the greenhouse gases emissions associated with the meat industry and ultimately help our society to prevent disastrous climate change. In addition, moving towards a more plant-based diet can decrease the demand for pastures and reduce our food-related water footprint. Learn more about how to increase sustainability on your plate.

Let’s change our diet, not the climate! You can make a difference. Please sign the petition to the United Nations to put animal agriculture onto the Climate Agenda at COP24.

Words by Karina Vieira

Strategy Session

Together with the Food and Climate Alliance, ProVeg organised a successful strategy session as part of the Diet Change Not Climate Change campaign. The goal of the event was to engage, network, and find ways to collaborate strategically in order to accelerate effective climate actions in the food, agriculture, and land-use sector.

The event focused on the ways in which a shift in eating habits can mitigate climate change. The 60 or so participants, including UN officials, scientists, investors, members of the media, and NGOs brought a diverse and extensive body of knowledge to the event.

After a brief introduction, the participants split into eight different working groups, covering a broad spectrum of topics from national policies on communications and investor relations to international agreements. The groups looked at existing challenges in their daily business and explored possible solutions and actions. One of the most important outcomes was recognising the need for broad collaboration in order to maximise the impact of advocating for a shift in diet.  

Campaign Lead Nico Nettelmann and Political Outreach team member Raphael Podselver

Other events at the Summit

The Summit brought together more than 4,000 experts, decision-makers, and leaders working around climate change. During the course of the week, ProVeg contributed to the debate by participating in dozens of conferences, workshops, and symposiums on topics ranging from sustainable agriculture to food innovations, carbon pricing, and food waste.

Governor Jerry Brown, one of the driving forces behind the summit, opened the Carbon Pricing Delivering Climate Ambition session by tackling the issue of livestock emissions.“To deal efficiently with climate change we need to reduce methane emissions,” he said during the event, which was organized by the European Commission, the Government of Canada, and the State of California.

The potential of plant-based foods to efficiently fight climate change was also discussed during the Managing Lands in a Changing Climate to Improve Agricultural Resilience, Food Security, and Health symposium at UC Davis. Deborah Bossio, lead soil scientist for the Nature Conservancy, insisted on pushing the topic of land use further into the public debate. She emphasised that “land-based solutions have a huge potential for climate mitigation but still don’t get the same attention as energy or transportation”.

ProVeg also pushed for plant-based solutions and sustainable food systems during several other events organised by various organisations, including the Dutch Consulate, the Tzu Chi Foundation, WeWork, the World Resources Institute, and the Forest, Food and Land Coalition.

Words by Raphael Podselver and Nico Nettelmann

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) plays an important role in providing a scientific view of climate change and its potential impacts. Through regular assessments of the latest knowledge, the intergovernmental organisation gives decision-makers the latest policy-relevant information.

The Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1,5 °C is one of the most important reports in the history of the IPCC. It points out the severity of climate change but also proposes possible solutions for an effective mitigation of climate change and adaptations to those changes which are now unavoidable. It defines the path to an effective Paris Agreement and provides crucial knowledge to the relevant decision-makers about the most effective solutions.

Report addresses plant-related diets

One of the major drivers of climate change is our food system, which contributes up to 29% of all greenhouse gases but at the same time contains huge mitigation opportunities¹Vermeulen, S. J. et al. (2012): Climate Change and Food Systems. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 37, p.195–222 ²Bajželj, B., J. M. Allwood & J. M. Cullen (2013): Designing Climate Change Mitigation Plans That Add Up. Environ Sci Technol. 47, p.8062–8069 . Current and predicted future levels of the production and consumption of animal products make the achievement of the 1,5°C and 2°C goals fundamentally unrealistic. As such, the achievement of these goals will require a global shift in dietary habits.

ProVeg welcomes the inclusion of sustainable and healthy diets in the Special Report as part of cost-effective climate change mitigation measures. The Report acknowledges that shifts towards diets with a smaller share of animal-based calories present a crucial step in meeting the 1,5°Goal. The transition to healthier diets could contribute one-fifth of the mitigation needed to hold warming below 2°C, according to the IPCC. Research shows that worldwide adoption of a plant-based diet could reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70% by 2050.³Springmann, M., H. C. J. Godfray, M. Rayner, et al. (2016): Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change cobenefits of dietary change. PNAS. 113, p.4146–4151  This shows that shifts towards plant-based eating are a simple and effective measure in terms of making a positive impact on climate change.

A reduction in animal-based food commodities would not only reduce the burden on our climate but also free up valuable arable land that could be made available for crops grown for direct human consumption. Food justice and other substantial co-benefits, which also meet several Sustainable Development Goals, are recognised in the Special Report on 1,5°C. This would represent a crucial step towards global food security.

The United Nations must prioritise emissions from the global food system

Such a change should be encouraged through broad policy strategies aimed at reducing the production and consumption of animal products in industrialised societies, and limiting the move towards increased consumption of animal products in developing societies.

We call upon the member states of the United Nations to prioritise reducing emissions from the global food system. We urge all UN member states to address this issue during the international climate change negotiations and to take it into account when formulating their national climate action plans.

Visit the IPCC website to read the full report.

Words by Nico Nettelmann