If everyone on the planet hypothetically stopped eating meat, the shift wouldn’t just reduce new emissions. A new study calculates that if animal agriculture was phased out, it would also unlock substantial “negative emissions,” helping shrink greenhouse gases in the atmosphere so dramatically that the world could reach net zero emissions for decades even if other pollution continued unabated. That’s because raising animals is a big source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that can disappear relatively quickly from the atmosphere, and because of the potential to capture huge amounts of carbon in native forests and grasslands if they can regrow on farms currently used for animals.
Changing Consumption Patterns and Sustainability Issues Hamper EU Meat Market
The market for meat and poultry in the EU is forecast to decrease at an average yearly rate of -0.4% in the upcoming decade.
