Academic experts criticize FAO climate roadmap for lack of focus on plant-based and alternative proteins

19 Mar 2024 --- Experts have slammed the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for dismissing alternative proteins and meat reduction tactics in its roadmap on climate change. Omitting meat-eating reduction plans is an oversight, according to scientists and environmental professionals. 

In a new commentary published in Nature Food, academic experts from the UK, US and the Netherlands heavily criticize the FAO plan, which makes several recommendations to tackle the critical 1.5°C increase in global temperatures, to which livestock production is a contributing factor. 

The 120 actions identified by FAO’s roadmap across domains, including livestock, fisheries, aquaculture, healthy diets, forests and wetlands, have been criticized for the lack of transparency and methodology. 

Matthew Hayek, one of the authors of the commentary, tells Food Ingredients First: “The scientific literature demonstrates that plant-rich diets, with limited animal-sourced foods available to those who need them most, is a critical strategy for preventing further diseases and pandemics of animal origin.” 

“This goes hand in hand with protecting standing forests and other intact ecosystems from the expansion of agriculture, which livestock grazing and animal feed exacerbate.”

“The FAO is seen as the preeminent scientific authority on food systems and their relationship with human nutrition and the environment, including climate change. Any report that they publish should be accompanied with the full methodology that allows independent scientists to reproduce it from start to finish,” he continues.

“No methods exist in their report or anywhere online for how they produced their recommendations in line with a 1.5°C climate target and no timeline exists for making this methodology available.”

Environmental concerns
The FAO’s roadmap has not addressed the impact of meat and dairy consumption on the environment, particularly in nations where overconsumption is prevalent. This has raised concerns in academic circles, with experts expressing bewilderment at the exclusion of meat-eating reduction from the proposals.

According to the commentary, animal agriculture accounts for 12%-20% of global greenhouse gas emissions and utilizes a disproportionate amount of farmland.

Under the Plant Based Treaty group, religious and environmental organizations and leaders also expressed concern regarding animal farming. They have written to Pope Francis, hoping he could directly address the negative impacts of animal agriculture on the climate.

Dietary shifts
Experts argue that the roadmap’s focus on intensifying animal farming techniques rather than promoting dietary shifts represents a missed opportunity for emission reductions.

Scientific research indicates that reducing meat consumption in developed countries would have positive impacts on both the climate and human health.Plant-based diets could help achieve climate targets by reducing reliance on carbon-intensive farming practices and freeing up land for carbon removal methods such as reforestation and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage.

“The FAO should make clear references to the literature in the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land, which shows that 0.7-8 Gigatons of CO2 equivalent emissions can be mitigated per year by shifting diets with the greater mitigations potentials associated with more aggressive shifts away from animal-sourced foods,” Hayek elaborates.

“The shifts start with shifting away from animal-sourced food production and consumption, in the high-income countries where meat and dairy are currently over-consumed from a health and environmental perspective.”

“Obviously, such a shift is difficult, likely as difficult as shifting away from fossil fuels to power our daily electricity and transportation needs, but that is no less reason to ambitiously tackle it.”

Advocating for comprehensive guidance
Experts advocate for future installments of the FAO’s roadmap to incorporate recommendations for reducing animal-sourced food consumption.

“A more sustainable ‘semi-intensification’ would consist of improving animal vaccines, animal feed, reproduction and herd management, interventions which the FAO report does recommend.”

Hayek also notes that the FAO roadmap hasn’t provided any guidance regarding the growing trend toward industrial production, with the concentrated quantities of pollution, confinement and animal disease it typically entails.

“I hope that our commentary pressures them to include full methodology, both for this first installment and the second and third follow-ups that they have planned for this report,” Hayek concludes.

By Gaynor Selby and Sichong Wang