Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Over 100 organizations and academics have urged the FAO to retract its Pathways Towards Lower Emissions report due to serious methodological errors that downplay the impact of reducing meat and dairy consumption on overall food emissions. The report, which was published at COP28 in December, claims that shifting to diets lower in meat and dairy has limited potential to reduce emissions. Instead, it advocates methods such as the intensification of livestock production, based largely on two papers co-authored by academics Dr Paul Behrens and Dr Matthew Hayek. However, Behrens and Hayek wrote to the FAO in April to express their dismay over the report, which “seriously distorts” their research. They say that due to errors made by the authors, the report “systematically underestimates” the emissions …

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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has published its annual State of Food and Agriculture report. For the first time ever, this year’s report has a strong focus on the true economic costs of the current food system. According to the report, agrifood systems have significant hidden costs, adding up to at least $10 trillion per year. This is equivalent to almost 10% of global GDP. Health costs Over 70% of this figure is linked to health costs caused by poor diets, specifically those high in fat, sugar, and processed foods. These diets lead to obesity and chronic diseases, causing productivity losses; this is most prevalent in upper-middle and high-income countries. In lower-income countries, there are significant social costs from poverty …

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