UK health bodies call for new tax on meat to fight climate crisis

‘If we are to avoid dangerous levels of global warming we must start to reconsider our attitudes to food,’ doctors say

Industrial meat production is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Some of the UK’s leading health organisations have called for the introduction of a carbon tax on environmentally burdensome products such as meat.

The UK Health Alliance on Climate Change said “a transformation in the way the world produces and consumes food” was needed to improve public health and mitigate the climate crisis. The food sector accounts for 26 per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions.

The alliance’s membership includes prominent medical, nursing and veterinary royal colleges, the British Medical Association, as well as publications the British Medical Journal and The Lancet.

A survey carried out by the organisation revealed “high levels of concern amongst UK health professionals about the impact of food on the climate, and support for the health benefits of more environmentally friendly diets,” the organisation said.

In a report titled All-Consuming: Building a Healthier Food System for People & Planet, the alliance set out key recommendations for the UK to improve the efficiency and quality of food production and consumption.

These recommendations include: mandatory environmental labelling, ending “buy-one-get-one-free” promotions to reduce food waste, and a carbon tax levied on all food producers according to the carbon footprint of their products.

Henry Dimbleby, independent lead of the National Food Strategy, warned the climate crisis was an even greater threat than the current coronavirus pandemic.

He said: “Covid-19, painful though it is, could pale into insignificance compared to the turbulence created by climate change and the collapse in biodiversity.

“Healthcare professionals have an important role in shaping our diets and I am very pleased to see their recommendations cover not only our health, but that of our planet too – and that they consider the broader influences on our food system.”

Professor Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “It’s clear that if we are to avoid dangerous levels of global warming we must start to reconsider our attitudes to food – which accounts for a quarter of total greenhouse gas emissions.

“The UK Health Alliance on Climate Change’s survey shows that a majority of health professionals agree, and it’s hugely encouraging that 40 per cent have already taken action by changing their eating habits.

“We each have a responsibility and an ability to make a difference as individuals, and making changes like reducing our meat consumption is not only good for the planet, but can also be good for our health.”

The report states that in the UK, food production and consumption represents around 20 per cent of our national emissions, half of which is related to imports, largely through the production of feed crops and the related deforestation.

“In particular, red meat consumption will need to be cut by half if the food system is to stay within sustainable environmental limits,” the report says.

“Changing our diets in this way will not only help to mitigate climate change but will also improve our health.”

The report’s authors said other fiscal incentives such as the so-called “sugar tax” had been an effective means of changing behaviour, with the UK Treasury estimating around 50 per cent of soft drinks manufacturers preemptively reduced their formulas to cut sugar in response to the tax.

They also said the UK’s departure from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy due to Brexit was an opportunity to support farmers who would be impacted by a tax on meat.

This could be done by “enhancing and accelerating the implementation of the Environmental Land Management scheme, offering subsidies for encouraging biodiversity and afforestation”, the report states.

Professor Dame Parveen Kumar, ambassador of the Alliance, said: “Most activity to limit climate change has focused on decarbonising energy and transportation. This is very important, but we mustn’t overlook the potential to mitigate the dangerous health effects of climate change by rethinking our approach to food.

“To achieve this, as the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change recommends, health professionals must be supported to share, and direct their patients to, clear and accessible advice on transitioning to a more climate-friendly diet.”