The impact of the world turning vegan would beprofound. Ecosystems would be restored; a quarterof the earth’s surface could be returned to native vegetation; global warming would slow almostimmediately; our health and quality of life would improve dramatically.
If organic or agro-ecological farming methods were also adopted, the impact would be dramatically improved. Replacing large scale industrialised farming with methods to store carbon in the ground and improve soil health have now been shown to equal yields, particularly in drought, and improve biodiversity.
“A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change”
The Guardian, 2010
REDUCING MEAT CONSUMPTION WOULD REDUCE THE COSTS OF STABILISING GHG’S BY 50%
Reducing global meat consumption would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut the costs of climate policy substantially. This is the result of a PBL study published in Climatic Change. Apart from a reduction in methane and N2O emissions, vast agricultural areas would become unused, mostly as a result of reduced cattle grazing, and could take up large amounts of carbon. Shifting worldwide to a healthy low-meat diet would reduce the costs of stabilising greenhouse gases at 450 ppm CO2 eq. by more than 50%
Turning agricultural practices organic sequesters atmospheric CO2, decreases ghg emissions, maintains yields, improves water retention, and increases farm profitability
“Changing farming practices to organic, regenerative and agro ecological systems can increase soil organic carbon stocks, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, maintain yields, improve water retention and plant uptake, improve farm profitability, and revitalize traditional farming communities while ensuring biodiversity and resilience of ecosystem services. Regenerative organic agriculture is also integral to the climate solution”
Rodale Institute, 2014
Regenerative organic agriculture essential to limit warming to 1.5°C
“Total global emissions of greenhouse gases in 2012 were about 52 gigatonnes CO2. Annual emissions must drop to ~41 gigatonnes CO2 by 2020 if we are to have a feasible chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C. Regenerative organic agriculture can get us there”
Rodale Institute, 2014
Organic farming can sequester 100% of current annual CO2 emissions
“Simply put, recent data from farming systems and pasture trials show that we could sequester more than 100% of current annual CO2 emissions with a switch to widely available and inexpensive management practices”
Rodale Institute, 2014
A strict vegan diet would halve agricultural ghg emissions
“This study quantifies the sources of agricultural GHG emissions and explores the impact of diet on GHG emissions in Finland. The emissions associated with production of basic food items were quantified for four diet options. For current average food consumption, emissions from soil represent 62% of the total. The emissions due to enteric fermentation contribute 24%, and energy consumption and fertiliser manufacture both about 8%. Regarding GHG emissions, environmental performance of the extensive organic production is poor. A strict vegan diet would nearly halve the agricultural GHG emissions”
The Guardian, 201
Reduce global mortality by up to 10%, and reduce ghg emissions by up to 70% with plant based diets, the economic benefits would be worth between $1 and $31 trillion annually
“Transitioning toward more plant-based diets that are in line with standard dietary guidelines could reduce global mortality by 6% to 10% and food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 29% to 70%… The monetized value of the improvements in health would be comparable with, or exceed, the value of the environmental benefits… Overall, we estimate the economic benefits of improving diets to be $1 to $31 trillion US dollars, which is equivalent to 0.4% to 13% of global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2050”
Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, 2015
A vegetarian diet can save millions of lives a year, cut ghg emissions substantially, and save billions of dollars annually in healthcare costs
“By eating less meat and more fruit and vegetables, the world could prevent several million deaths per year by 2050, cut planet-warming emissions substantially, and save billions of dollars annually in healthcare costs and climate damage… A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first to estimate both the health and climate change impacts of a global move towards a more plant-based diet. We do not expect everybody to become vegan, said lead author Marco Springmann of the Oxford Martin Program on the Future of Food. But if they did, they’d live longer and help reduce the changes that are skewing the climate. What we eat greatly influences our personal health and the global environment”
NBC News, 2016
Vegan diets would cut GHG emissions by 70%
“Following dietary recommendations would cut food-related [GHG] emissions by 29%, adopting vegetarian diets would cut them by 63% and vegan diets by 70%”
NBC News, 2016
Beef alone has a huge environmental footprint
“If cattle were their own nation, they would be the world’s 3rd largest greenhouse gas emitter, use 33% of earth’s water and 25% of earth’s land area. And beef demand is expected to grow by 95% by 2050.”
World Resources Institute, 2016
