Cut meat and dairy by a FIFTH to save planet: Report tells Brits to slash car trips and curb flights

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Cut meat and dairy by a FIFTH to save the planet: Britons should slash car trips, curb the number of flights we take, and drastically alter our diet by the end of the 2020s in bid to battle climate change, report warns

  • Committee on Climate Change suggests cutting UK meat eating in half by 2050
  • It comes as one of many lifestyle changes to reach net zero carbon emissions
  • Advisors say the sale of household gas boilers should be phased out by 2033 

By Victoria Allen Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Britain should cut its meat and dairy consumption by a fifth by the end of the decade to combat climate change, Government advisers have urged.

The ‘best-case’ scenario proposed by the Committee on Climate Change is then to halve the amount of meat we eat by 2050.

Cutting the number of livestock would help to reduce greenhouse gases that are linked to global warming. 

The committee’s report targets net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and also proposes cutting flights from the UK by 15 per cent and slashing the number of miles driven by a third.

Britain should cut its meat and dairy consumption by a fifth by the end of the decade to combat climate change, Government advisers have urged (stock photo)

The advisors have told the Government that the sale of household gas boilers should be phased out by 2033.

The report calls for ordinary people, and not just the Government, to change their lives for the future of the planet.

£40bn to ‘greenwire’ Britain 

Power giants accused of cashing in from unfair and inflated energy bills have been told to spend £40billion to ‘greenwire’ Britain.

Industry regulator Ofgem outlined plans such as linking wind farms to the national grid to meet the Government’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

It also set a limit on how much of the cost can be recovered through customers’ bills – and said power firms should cut them by £10 a year over the next five years.

The Citizens Advice charity said firms have benefited from unfair profit margins over the past five years which has allowed them to rake in £7.5billion at the expense of hard-pressed customers.

 

It suggests families should move away from meat and dairy, helping to reduce livestock numbers, by choosing ‘plant-based options’ – and one day even meat grown in a laboratory.

This could start with the public sector being required to include vegetarian options in all canteens to help shift behaviour, according to the committee in its ‘route map’ for decarbonising the country.

The blueprint calls for the UK to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 78 per cent by 2035.

It also calls for the introduction of a national investment programme to make flats and houses eco-friendly and says that by 2035 440,000 hectares of new mixed woodland should be planted.

Committee chairman Lord Deben said: ‘This is the right carbon budget for the UK at the right time. 

We deliver our recommendations to Government with genuine enthusiasm, knowing that Britain’s decisive zero-carbon transition brings real benefits to our people and our businesses while making the fundamental changes necessary to protect our planet.’

A frequent flyer tax is discussed in the route map, which calls for flights from the UK to be cut by 15 per cent from 2018 levels in its ‘highly optimistic’ scenario for lowering emissions. 

Car-sharing, working from home and walking are among the suggestions to cut the amount of miles people are expected to drive in 2050 by a third.

Last month it was announced new petrol and diesel cars and vans would no longer be sold by 2030. 

But the committee said hybrid cars, which are part-electric but still have an engine, should be included in this move from 2032.

Neil Shand, from the National Beef Association, said: ‘Britain’s meat industry is given a lot of unfair criticism over its environmental impact.’ 

And National Pig Association chairman Richard Lister said: ‘There has been a heavy bias against meat when it comes to climate change discussions.’