World Animal Protection releases report on meat consumption and climate

A new report from World Animal Protection and Navius Research suggests Canada could meet emission reduction targets if residents move from a high-meat consumption diet to a low-meat consumption one.

A media release said the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions would be significant enough to put Canada back on track to meet its 2030 and 2050 climate targets.

“The findings of this report should be a wakeup call for governments and Canadians alike,” said Lynn Kavanagh, Farming Campaign Manager with World Animal Protection Canada. “Our diets are largely something that we can control and by moving to a more sustainable plant-based diet, we can all do our part in achieving a net zero society.”

The release pointed out the Government of Canada needs to promote the largely plant based Canada Food Guide, and acknowledge animal agriculture as a major source of GHG emissions.

This research is the first of its kind as it quantifies the true emissions from Canada’s animal agriculture sector. Canada’s emissions reporting accounts for emissions from feed production, fertilizer production and fertilizer use across various sectors, while these emissions should be attributed to animal agriculture to understand the true impact of this sector.