WWF calls on meat trade to reduce its footprint

- Published: 15 April, 2010

UK government targets of a 70% reduction in food carbon emissions by 2050 are unlikely to be met unless the meat industry, a major contributor to greenhouse gas outputs, can radically alter the way it does business, according to Mark Driscoll, head of the WWF’s One Planet Food Programme.

Speaking at the Eblex/Bpex Outlook Conference, Driscoll called on the meat trade to deal with “the waste and inefficiencies in the food system”.

Driscoll described the government’s 2030 strategy paper “a good first step”, but criticised the way it “fails to put any timeframes on greenhouse gas reduction for food”

Driscoll admitted that there were many benefits to livestock production, citing the ability for grassland to store carbon, along with the employment of 3.6m people in the UK, its economic contribution of £80.5bn in 2007, and the way it supports rural communities.

Driscoll also called for £50m each year to be placed by government in agricultural research and development after a “serious lack of investment over the last twenty years.”

WWF is one of the world's leading environmental organisations, founded in 1961, and with a presence in over 100 countries.

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