Researchers Paul Behrens from Leiden University and Matthew Hayek from New York University have formally challenged the validity of a recent report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) regarding the reduction of meat consumption and its effect on lowering emissions. In a detailed letter, they urged the FAO to retract the publication, citing significant discrepancies in data interpretation and methodology.
“It’s so important for one of the most trusted international voices on food to reflect the science on the desperate need for food system transitions”
The disputed report, part of a sequence presented at the COP28 climate summit, titled “Pathways Towards Lower Emissions,” misuses data from a 2017 study co-authored by Behrens. The FAO’s analysis focused on strategies to reduce emissions from the livestock sector, primarily through improved animal management, reduced food waste, enhanced breeding practices, and improved feed quality. The report downplayed reducing meat consumption, suggesting that it would only result in a two to five percent reduction in global agricultural emissions.
Underestimation of emission reduction
Hayek pointed out multiple issues with the FAO report in a statement on social media, including the use of outdated dietary guidelines, mixing baselines from different years, and neglecting the expected rise in meat consumption in developing countries. Additionally, the FAO report allegedly failed to consider the carbon sequestration potential of restoring natural ecosystems on millions of square kilometers of land spared by reduced meat consumption. These errors collectively led to an underestimation of emission reduction by 6 to 40 times less than what could be scientifically supported.
The letter states that “The report conflates now-obsolete nationally recommended diets (NRDs) with dietary opportunities, ignoring voluminous evidence of healthy, environmentally friendly diets which have very large potential to reduce emissions.”
Behrens told The Guardian, “The scientific consensus at the moment is that dietary shifts are the biggest leverage we have to reduce emissions and other damage caused by our food system, but the FAO chose the roughest and most inappropriate approach to their estimates and framed it in a way that was very useful for interest groups seeking to show that plant-based diets have a small mitigation potential compared to alternatives.”
Misrepresentation of outdated data
The 2017 study referenced in the FAO report originally assessed the environmental and health impacts of recommended diets across 37 countries, which account for 64% of the global population. It highlighted significant potential for emission reductions and environmental benefits from reduced meat consumption. However, Behrens noted that the study’s data is now over seven years old, and many countries have since updated their dietary recommendations to suggest even lower meat intake, including countries like Germany, which recommend eating at least 75% plant-based.
In response to the criticism, an FAO spokesperson told The Guardian that the report underwent a rigorous peer review process designed to ensure accuracy and minimize bias. The agency has acknowledged the concerns raised by the academics and claims it will “look into the issue” and undertake a “technical exchange of views” with the researchers.
Science supports dietary change
Criticism extends beyond the academics, with food awareness group ProVeg International advocating for a thorough review of the FAO’s findings. ProVeg International’s Global CEO, Jasmijn de Boo, commented, “The science repeatedly shows that diet change is the most effective way of reducing emissions from agriculture.
“Diet change as a solution to emissions reduction can be embraced in a way that benefits not just the climate but human health and social justice as well. We welcome the FAO’s response that they will revisit their study and urge them to clarify the extent to which it accurately reflects the science as it stands today,” de Boo adds.
“There seems to be a pattern of this sort of misrepresentation of dietary shifts at the FAO”
Behrens made a statement on social media: “There seems to be a pattern of this sort of misrepresentation of dietary shifts at the FAO. […] It’s so important for one of the most trusted international voices on food to reflect the science on the desperate need for food system transitions – especially the role of dietary change as the largest opportunity we have for healthier diets and a healthier planet!”
Read the full letter here.
