There has been a bit of a backlash to veganism lately and the number of people reporting to be vegetarian or vegan has gone down. It used to be a growing trend in the UK and around the world, but this trend has gone into reverse with populism and culture wars spreading misinformation about diets as well as lobbying from the farming industry. Enthusiasm and investment into the industry is on a downward trend.

But whether veganism appeals to you or not is not a problem when it comes to reaching Net Zero by 2050. As long as we move towards a more plant-based diet and reduce the amount of meat and dairy we consume, there are a variety of different Net Zero compatible diets we can adopt.

The sustainable amount of meat and dairy you can consume

Producing meat and dairy is energy intensive and takes up a lot of land. Livestock takes up 40% percent of habitable land which causes deforestation and destroys ecosystems around the world. Cows take up a very large amount of land because of grazing and land needed to grow their food, and this makes them the main cause of deforestation, particularly in South America and the Amazon rainforest. It is estimated if we only halved the amount of beef we ate, we could rewild land that is the size of the USA. Eating less meat means we reduce our energy demand and less land is needed to be cleared to rear animals.

If you want to keep meat and dairy in your diet, climate change scientists have calculated how much of it we can eat sustainably. For a peak global population of 10 billion people by 2050, the sustainable amount of meat and dairy we can eat per person per week is the following: 255g of meat, 1.75ml milk and 2 eggs. 

Advisory bodies such as the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) and the Climate Change Committee (CCC) suggest a phased approach to get to this level rather than trying to achieve this straight away. The CCC, which created the strategy to get to Net Zero for the UK, recommend people reduce their meat intake by 25% by 2040 and then reduce it by 35% by 2050. Veganism is not a necessary part of any strategy to get to Net Zero, it is simply one of many options to eating sustainably. But a plant-based diet is essential to reaching Net Zero and it can take many forms.

What is a plant-based diet?

A plant-based diet is a diet that is mainly based on plants but does NOT necessarily exclude meat. It means plants should make up at least two-thirds of our diet and meat makes up to one third of our diet. In a typical meal, meat should be an accompaniment to a dish rather than the main part. But what is meant by ‘plants’? Plants include the following:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole grains
• Legumes
• Seeds and nuts
• Plant milks (oat milk, soya milk, nut milks)
• Spices, herbs and seasonings
• Condiments
• Plant based protein (tofu, lentils, beans, nuts, protein rich fruit and vegetables)
• Drinks

Different types of plant-based diets

Vegan	Vegetarian	Pescatarian	Flexitarian
No meat No dairy (milk, eggs)	No meat	No meat except fish	Sometimes eat meat and sometimes eat vegetarian/vegan meals

There is a range of diets you could adopt in a Net Zero world. There is no right or wrong plant-based diet. It can encompass a variety of ingredients and doesn’t need limit your choice of meals. Another way to adapt to a plant-based diet to suit your tastes and add more variety is to search through world cuisines that are naturally plant-based. Countries that have a cuisine that is naturally more plant-based is the Mediterranean (Southern Europe), India and Japan. Adopting one of these plant-based diets will reduce your carbon emissions by at least 1 ton a year depending on which one you adopt. Different plant-based diets reduce carbon emissions by varying amounts, but it is worth experimenting and choosing which one is right for you.

Health benefits of a plant-based diet

Plant-based diets will also improve your health immensely and potentially save you money as plants are cheaper than meat.

It prevents illnesses: Research from Harvard Medical School has shown that a plant-based diet reduces the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancers because plants are full of healthy, unsaturated fats. Plants include a lot of fibre which helps with digestion and improves gut health. Better gut health is associated with reducing auto-immune diseases as it helps with managing weight, blood glucose, inflammation and heart health. Plant-based diets are also richer in vitamins and minerals. Eating a variety of plant food groups increases your intake of vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K. Vitamin D is known to be important for supporting the healthy functioning of the immune system and bone strength. Vitamins A, C and E all protect eye health and skin health. Plant-based food also has many minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, selenium and zinc and an increase of these minerals can improve bone strength, sleep and prevent infections.

It helps reduce weight: Plant-based meals are usually lower in calories because they contain are higher amount of fruit and vegetables compared to meat, which is often fried and processed. Studies on dieting have shown those of vegetarian and vegan diets lose weight faster than those on diets including meat.

It slows down our biological age clock: Plant-based diets slow down your biological age clock and can even reverse it. The majority of these diets are fruits and vegetables which are rich in vitamins. This improves cell renewal and reduces inflammation which reduces the rate at which skin ages. Antioxidants that come from vitamin A, C and E slow down ageing and plants have 64 times the amounts of antioxidants than animal products.

Other factors that contribute to carbon footprint of our diet

The amount of food waste we create has a big impact on the carbon footprint of our diet. It is estimated we throw away 22% of food that we buy from the shops and we can easily reduce our emissions by not buying what we don’t eat. We produce, consume and throw away food in a very inefficient way. Worldwide, we produce enough food for everyone to consume 5000 calories a day, when an adult only needs 2000-2500 calories a day, yet people go hungry. What is even worse is that we throw away over a third of our food from the production process to our plates and food waste contribute 8-10% to greenhouse gas emissions globally. Being more mindful when you do food shopping could be the easiest and most effective change you can make.