Environmental News Network - Cutting Animal-Based Foods in Us Diet by Half Could Prevent 1.6 Billion Tons of GHG Emissions by 2030

Details: By University of Michigan; 30.Apr

Replacing half of all animal-based foods in the U.S. diet with plant-based alternatives could reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions 1.6 billion metric tons by 2030, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan and Tulane University.

Julie Swatson

Replacing half of all animal-based foods in the U.S. diet with plant-based alternatives could reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions 1.6 billion metric tons by 2030, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan and Tulane University.

The report, “Implications of Future U.S. Diet Scenarios on Greenhouse Gas Emissions,” was commissioned by the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit conservation organization.

It found that replacing half of all animal-based foods (red meat, poultry, fish/seafood, eggs, dairy and animal-based fats) with plant-based alternatives would reduce U.S. diet-related emissions by 35%. Based on U.S. Census Bureau population projections, that would amount to a savings of 224 million metric tons per year in 2030.

A reduction of 224 million metric tons is equivalent to the annual emissions of 47.5 million passenger vehicles and represents 24% of the reduction needed for the United States to meet targets under the Paris climate agreement, according to the new study.

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Cutting Animal-Based Foods in Us Diet by Half Could Prevent 1.6 Billion Tons of GHG Emissions by 2030