A recent study from the University of British Columbia suggests moderation should not be a seasonal goal but a long-term one. The research found that 44 percent of the global population would need to change their eating habits to keep global warming below 2 °C.
The study was led by Dr. Juan Diego Martinez while he was a doctoral student at UBC’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. He explains what the research uncovered and outlines practical diet changes that could make a real difference.
Half of us globally and at least 90 percent of Canadians need to change our diets to prevent severe planetary warming. And that number is conservative, because we used 2012 data. Since then, emissions and the world’s population have both increased. Looking ahead to 2050, we found that 90 percent of us will need to be eating differently.
We looked at data from 112 countries, accounting for 99 percent of food-related greenhouse gas emissions globally, and divided each country’s population into 10 income groups. We calculated a food emissions budget for each person by combining emissions from food consumption, global food production and supply chains, and compared these emissions to the total the world can afford if we want to stay below 2 °C of warming.
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