Dietary change and land use change: assessing preventable climate and biodiversity damage due to meat consumption in Germany

  • Land use change (LUC) is responsible for a large share of the emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) and is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Although much of the global LUC-related CO2 emissions and biodiversity loss occur in tropical countries, the actual drivers of this LUC can be located in the global North, particularly through the import of large quantities of agricultural commodities. The aim of this study is to quantify and monetize the LUC-related impacts of the consumption of animal-based food products in Germany and subsequently explore the potential benefits of transitioning to diets with lower dependence on animal-based products. We calculate the LUC-related impacts of consumption of animal-based products in Germany through a modeling approach that combines models for land balance, emissions, and physical trade. We determine the LUC-related CO2 emissions of this consumption, as well as the deforested area and associated impacts on biodiversity loss.Land use change (LUC) is responsible for a large share of the emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) and is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Although much of the global LUC-related CO2 emissions and biodiversity loss occur in tropical countries, the actual drivers of this LUC can be located in the global North, particularly through the import of large quantities of agricultural commodities. The aim of this study is to quantify and monetize the LUC-related impacts of the consumption of animal-based food products in Germany and subsequently explore the potential benefits of transitioning to diets with lower dependence on animal-based products. We calculate the LUC-related impacts of consumption of animal-based products in Germany through a modeling approach that combines models for land balance, emissions, and physical trade. We determine the LUC-related CO2 emissions of this consumption, as well as the deforested area and associated impacts on biodiversity loss. Following the true cost accounting approach (TCA), the LUC-related impacts are monetized to estimate the external costs of the German consumption of animal-based products. Our results show that the consumption of these products is responsible for the deforestation of 16.4 kha annually in the period between 2013 and 2016. Out of the six analyzed animal-based product groups, the largest shares of deforestation are associated with milk (35%) and pork (33%) consumption. However, beef meat consumption has the highest relative LUC-related CO2 emissions at 0.75 tCO2 per ton. The LUC-related externalities of the German meat-based product consumption incur annually societal costs of EUR 1.1 billion (plus EUR 0.5 billion for biodiversity loss). The results also show that the animal-based products imported in Germany have only slightly higher LUC-related CO2 emissions than those produced within Germany. Overall, there is a great urgency for policy measures and shifts in consumer behavior to ensure that the consumption of animal-based products in Germany does not have unacceptably high negative sustainability impacts.show moreshow less

Download full text files

Export metadata

Statistics

Number of document requests

Additional Services

Share in Twitter Search Google Scholar
Metadaten
Author:Moritz Hentschl, Amelie MichalkeORCiDGND, Maximilian PieperORCiDGND, Tobias GauglerORCiDGND, Susanne Stoll-Kleemann
Frontdoor URLhttps://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/104807
ISSN:1862-4065OPAC
ISSN:1862-4057OPAC
Parent Title (English):Sustainability Science
Publisher:Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Place of publication:Berlin
Type:Article
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2023
Publishing Institution:Universität Augsburg
Release Date:2023/06/13
Tag:Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law; Nature and Landscape Conservation; Sociology and Political Science; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Health (social science); Global and Planetary Change
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-023-01326-z
Institutes:Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät
Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät
Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre
Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät / Institut für Materials Resource Management
Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre / Lehrstuhl für Production & Supply Chain Management
Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre / Lehrstuhl für Innovation und Nachhaltiges Management
Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät / Institut für Materials Resource Management / Professur für Applied Data Analysis
Nachhaltigkeitsziele
Nachhaltigkeitsziele / Ziel 2 - Kein Hunger
Nachhaltigkeitsziele / Ziel 8 - Menschenwürdige Arbeit und Wirtschaftswachstum
Nachhaltigkeitsziele / Ziel 12 - Nachhaltiger Konsum und nachhaltige Produktion
Nachhaltigkeitsziele / Ziel 13 - Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz
Nachhaltigkeitsziele / Ziel 17 - Partnerschaften zur Erreichung der Ziele
Dewey Decimal Classification:3 Sozialwissenschaften / 33 Wirtschaft / 330 Wirtschaft
Latest Publications (not yet published in print):Aktuelle Publikationen (noch nicht gedruckt erschienen)
Licence (German):CC-BY 4.0: Creative Commons: Namensnennung (mit Print on Demand)