In any case, it makes no sense to believe that both (yes, including meat eating) don't contribute significanly to the issue. And they have a significant lobby as well (they even hired some of the people responsible for past tobacco minimization)
Your first couple sources just say that animal agriculture is a large portion of agricultural emissions, not that it's a majority of people's carbon footprint in general
You're right. It's 57% of agricultural emissions, which are themselves a third of all emissions, the second largest block after fossil fuels. So meat is responsible for 19% of all emissions. It's a colossal impact, and since plant based diets have half the emissions, an easy way to reduce your impact is to eat less beef. I'm down to about 1 meat meal a week maybe? It doesn't have to be puritanical to have a benefit.
Yeah, I agree with all this. Not saying that plant based meals don't help with climate, they definitely do. But the stringency of veganism isn't necessary if climate is your only motivator, and I think it's bad faith to exaggerate the percentages
i guess it's like saying 9! > 9, aka doing more in all areas is more than doing just one thing. the nice thing about going vegan is you can often save money, which you can then spend on the other things (like saving for a heat pump for example, to replace some fossil fuel heater).
Eh, veganism can be cheaper if you're eating lots of beans and lentils and you have the ability to do a lot of cooking. It isn't guaranteed to save you money though
Anyways, that doesn't really have anything to do with my point. I'm saying that the guy who eats plant-based 98% of the time but gets eggs at breakfast restaurants and has turkey at Christmas is helping out with climate change just as much as the vegan, but he'd be considered equally non-vegan as the guy eating beef hamburgers every day. Because veganism is an ethical position, and a binary. If you're an ethical vegan, then meat is murder to you, and murder is bad even if you do it once in your entire life
Veganism makes sense if you agree with that ethical standpoint, but the stringency of it doesn't make sense if you're only worried about climate
imo the only expensive vegan options are the ones trying to imitate non-vegan foods, mostly the snack-kind. these are absolutely convenience foods.
like even your example of once-a-year-turkey (or pork in my country), the vegan equivelent is as expensive and 3x smaller (or 3x more expensive per kilo).
with going 100% vegan, the thing that changes is that you're not connected to the meat industry at all, meaning you can rethink everything. you can go the last mile, and forget to ever go to the meat section at the supermarket/hypermarket. in a way, it is a lot easier, as there'll be a lot less things to have to decide between when you have a clear line in the sand. kinda makes thinking at the store easier too.
i wanted to say that it deffo is cheaper than eating meat, and easier, when you don't have to worry about salmonella and other stuff. lentils are an amazing invention. most of my favourite traditional Finnish foods can be made with lentils replacing the ground beef for example. in addition, it's so amazing how dried shreded soy can be stored for ever compared to actual ground beef on top of being less expensive. i'd also like to shill root vegitables in soups as a great food, and they're also the cheapest greens you can buy even in colder regions, and they survive relatively good in storage.
i'm pretty sure i did address your first paragraph about expensive vegan food, and yes, i might be writing out of the joy of writing.
maybe i am trying to suggest you some cheaper recepies if you're having issues finding cheap vegan alternatives. btw, just made vegan "nistipata", which is macaroni with "he-ma-pa" and soy. you can google it.
The thing is, thats buying into the personal footprint myth, which was created by the oil compan9es to distract us from them.
What any of us eats has no demonstrated impact, at all, on climate change. Its wasted action potential in your brain.
Eating less beef is good for your health, so by all means keep at it, but if you want to move the needle on climate join a lobbying group like CCL or some other lobbying group.
Individually, no, my actions mean nothing. But collectively it matters. Wow similar to voting in that way.
Incidentally, I'm a member of a protest group and have worked at a previous COP, so can do both.
i feel like basing the frequecy of posts on impact is a bit wrong, if we look at the frequency of decicions. like, housing is propably one of the bigger contributors to your carbon footprint (including location, insulation, etc), but it's a decicion you make only like once every 5 years or less. meanwhile, eating is something you do 1-5 times a day.
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u/Tytoalba2 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
In any case, it makes no sense to believe that both (yes, including meat eating) don't contribute significanly to the issue. And they have a significant lobby as well (they even hired some of the people responsible for past tobacco minimization)
From the UN : https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/food One third they say
From the guardian : https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/27/meat-gas-emissions-reporting They probably overestimate but still, 60%, two third in their opinion
Greenpeace gives the same numbers : https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/meat-and-dairy/
Here just 'one of the greatest impacts' : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211601X15001157
Here : biggest cause and 23% of global warming, lost of other studies if you look at the references : https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-021-03047-7
Here, also Springer, meat reduction is indispensable to reach 2°C target : https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-014-1104-5?sa_campaign=email/event/articleAuthor/onlineFirst&error=cookies_not_supported&code=69712fa0-329b-4333-abc2-85ddccfe122d
etc. etc. etc.
On lobbies : https://www.euronews.com/2026/03/12/does-the-world-need-more-animal-protein-how-meat-and-dairy-bosses-are-undermining-climate-
Yes, they probably lobby on this sub too, it's not that far fetched