Claim: “Cutting cattle and sheep would harm British farming, worsen our diets and just move emissions abroad.”
Quick Reply
Not if we eat less of it. Meat and dairy are among the biggest sources of food emissions and use most of our farmland, so deep cuts are needed. But the answer is eating less, not importing more. This opens up the land to have options such as more organic farming, less but better meat, and other nature-friendly farming options.
The Climate Change Committee’s pathway reduces how much we consume as well as how much we produce, so imports needn’t rise. And eating less meat and dairy is better for our health too.
More Detail
Even the Government’s advisers say we must cut back. The Climate Change Committee’s pathway pairs fewer cattle and sheep with people eating around 25% less meat and 20% less dairy by 2040. Research by Professor Paul Behrens shows a more plant-rich diet could go much further, cutting UK farm emissions by around 60% and freeing land almost the size of Scotland for nature.
It’s about what we eat, not offshoring. Emissions only move abroad if we keep eating the same amount and import the difference. Lower demand means lower imports too.
Livestock uses most of our farmland. The Government’s National Food Strategy found that 85% of farmland is used to feed livestock, and that returning the least productive 20% to nature would reduce the calories we produce by only 3%.
Fewer animals, more nature. Shifting to more plant-rich diets would free large areas of land to store carbon, restore wildlife and reduce flooding. Some grazing will still have a place, especially on hill land that can’t grow crops. But the overall scale of livestock farming needs to fall substantially, and farmers should be properly supported through that change, not left to carry it alone.
Methane matters because it’s short-lived. Methane breaks down in about 12 years, but while it lasts it traps far more heat than CO₂. That cuts both ways: methane doesn’t build up like CO₂, but cutting it cools the planet relatively quickly. The UN says cutting methane is one of the fastest ways to slow warming this decade. Holding farm methane steady just maintains the warming it has already caused. Reducing it actively helps.
Eating less isn’t eating none. Meat and dairy are valuable sources of nutrients such as B12 and iron, and nobody needs to give them up entirely. But NHS advice already recommends limiting red and processed meat, and many people eat more than that. A shift towards more plants, and less but better meat, is good for health as well as climate. Making healthy food affordable for everyone is essential.
