Meat consumption shouldn't exceed two burgers a week to limit global warming

WHILE the COP27, which kicks off November 6 in Egypt, brings together governments to discuss and take action on tackling climate change, a report by a US-based think tank (World Resources Institute) warns of "the gap in climate action by highlighting where recent progress must accelerate" in the hopes of keeping warming limited to 1.5°C by 2030.

Among the many avenues, the think tank advises a five times faster shift to a more sustainable diet that contains no more than the equivalent of two burgers a week.

While many of us haven't paid enough attention to the urgency of taking actions to limit the effects of global warming, back in the 1990s, environmental groups were already calling for small daily gestures such as turning off the tap when brushing our teeth or sorting our waste in an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint of our daily consumption.

While many consumers have integrated these habits into daily routines, many are still unsure of how they can participate as individuals in making the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to +1.5°C by 2030, effective.

In a report published on October 26, the World Resources Institute, whose mission is to propose concrete examples that combine environmental protection and economic development, indicates that we must change our eating habits five times faster to prioritize healthier and more sustainable food.

In this area, the think tank singles out meat consumption as an issue for getting on track. Individual consumption of ruminant meat should be equivalent to no more than two burgers per week and per capita, according to this think tank composed of scientists and economists.

While the burden of environmental guilt has long been placed on the shoulders of citizens, the report's insights demonstrate how much action is needed by governments and corporations alike to bring about rapid change.

The report takes a very pragmatic : we need to "phase out public financing for fossil fuels five times faster -- equivalent to reducing subsidies by an average of $69 billion per year." To that end, 925 medium-sized coal-fired power plants should be retired each year.

To accelerate actions in the hopes of reaching the Paris Agreement target, efforts must also be made in the area of public transportation by expanding public transport systems in the world's highest emitting cities six times faster. To put together this report, the World Resources Institute studied 40 indicators on which efforts could potentially be made.

One other area is deforestation, where, for example, it would be appropriate to reduce the process 2.5 times faster, "equivalent to avoiding deforestation across an area roughly equivalent to all arable land in Switzerland each year."

There is even more urgency to implement these actions supported by the report, given that the think tank projects that there is no possibility of fulfilling the objectives for any of the indicators analyzed by 2030 if the current pace continues.