UN recommends plant-based diet, revised land management to fight climate change
Climate change is upon us and may worsen quickly if measures are not taken to preserve the environment. In a recent advocate by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN-IPCC) switching to a plant-based diet can help the war against climate change, as more people can be fed and less land used, if people cut down on eating meat/dairy products.
The environmental impact of meat production is staggering and no doubt important to many. To counter it, and hopefully meet climate targets, a UK-based group lobbies caterers to take beef and lamb off student menus, while in the US, vegan burger patties made from plant-based meat substitutes are gaining popularity.
“We’re not telling people to stop eating meat. But in the West we’re eating far too much,” said Professor Pete Smith, an environmental scientist from Aberdeen University, UK.
Human-induced changes are dramatically altering the landscape, and these are even leaking into the atmosphere. Climate change, then, poses a threat to the security of our food supply and health. While food production itself, such as agriculture, livestock rearing and forestry/deforestation, contributes to global warming, rising temperatures, increased rainfall and other unpredictable weather events will impact crops and livestock.
On the other hand, there is also wastage of food in huge amounts. The IPCC panel estimates that greenhouse emissions associated with food loss/waste is as high as 8-10% of all global emissions, and has thus called for action to stop wasting food in all its forms.
Waste/surplus food can sometimes be used as animal feed or, if suitable, redirected to charities to feed people in need. An example by Swiss company Partage, which tackles the problem by taking in unsold food discarded by shops and distributing it to local families, reduces the CO2 emissions involved in producing food from raw sources, but still ensures a healthy supply.
Soil, a part of the climate system, is the second largest store of carbon after the oceans. Plants readily absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and lock the carbon away in the soil. The extra atmospheric carbon can nourish forests, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, but experts caution that this effect will be negated if the Earth heats up too much.
Climate change is expected to accelerate this process. High temperatures can easily break down the organic matter in soil, boosting greenhouse emissions. Already, areas near the equator may be losing vegetation through heat stress from deforestation and poor farming practices, which also severely compromises plant growth.
Dr. Katrin Fleischer from the Technical University of Munich, Germany, has explained that a rainforest which has reached its limit from soil over-exploitation would be unable to absorb any more carbon dioxide emissions. Fleischer adds, “It’s clear that the land’s being degraded and that’s worsening climate change, but if we wise up about the way we use it, it can be part of the climate solution.”
The panel thus recommends proper land management as well as reducing/reversing soil damage to mitigate climate change and provide immediate benefits to local communities. Better land management would boost soil fertility and food security and even reduce poverty.
But while these changes seem impossible, especially as it entails major shifts in consumption, farming methods and forestry, is nevertheless necessary to ensure survival.
Meanwhile, bioenergy – touted as a climate change solution – has yet to be accepted by the IPCC. Bioenergy involves burning vegetation as a substitute for fossil fuels.The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts bioenergy will outpace solar, wind and hydropower in the coming years. However, the IPCC experts say converting land to bioenergy could deprive countries of soil to grow much-needed crops, and so, advise limits on the amount of land used for biofuels.
