Cutting out meat and dairy products is the “single biggest way” to reduce your environmental impact on the Earth, new research has revealed.
Oxford University scientists found that a vegan diet can reduce a person’s carbon footprint by up to 73 per cent, depending on where they live.
The study, carried out in conjunction with Swiss agricultural research firm Agroscope, is the most comprehensive analysis yet of the damage farming does to the planet.
It looked at 40,000 farms and 1,600 processors and retailers across 119 different countries.
The study found that global farmland use could be cut by three quarters if everyone stopped eating meat and dairy – with enough food still produced to feed the world.
That equates to an area the size of the EU, China, Australia and the US put together.
Scientists discovered meat and dairy produce 60 per cent of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions, but only provide 18 per cent of calories and 37 per cent of protein.
Furthermore, even the lowest impact meat and dairy products are still more harmful to the environment than the least sustainable plants and cereals.
Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, UK, who led the research, said: “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use.
“It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car.”
“Avoiding consumption of animal products delivers far better environmental benefits than trying to purchase sustainable meat and dairy,” he added.
The study, published in the journal Science, also found that a small number of producers account for a large part of the greenhouse gas emissions.
Overall, 25 per cent of producers contribute an average of 53 per cent of each product's greenhouse gas emissions.
The loss of land to agriculture is currently the leading cause of the mass extinction of wildlife.
