World Animal Protection report says Canadians should switch to meatless lifestyle to help achieve climate goals

TORONTO —  World Animal Protection, in conjunction with Navius Research will release a new report suggesting that Canadians who move from a high-meat consumption lifestyle to low-meat consumption will help reduce the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions and potentially put Canada back on track to meet its 2030 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 in a statement.

“Our diets are something that we can largely control and by moving to a diet that is more sustainable and increasingly plant-based, we can all do our part in achieving a net-zero society.”

WAP Canada says the research tries to depict the country’s true emissions within its agricultural sector. Canada’s emissions reporting on the agriculture sector excludes feed and fertilizer, as that’s classified under ‘heavy industry.’

The report also suggests that if Canada’s future animal consumption is lower, it will cost 11 per cent less for the economy to comply with the 2030 emissions target compared to a future in which animal consumption remains at current levels. That’s $6.3 billion lower by 2030 and $12.5 billion lower by 2050.

To create the report, both organizations used a customized version of Navius Research’s existing energy economy model, gTech, which stimulates the effects of energy and climate policy on technology adoption, energy use, GHG emissions and the economy. The organizations used this model to help them explore the impacts of shifting consumer food-consumption preferences as they relate to Canada’s stated climate targets.

World Animal Protection says the environmental consequences of meat consumption is the reason behind its launch Plant Meatless Better campaign this summer.