Would greenhouse gas emissions increase if everyone went vegan?
Much research indicates that greenhouse gas emissions would decrease, not increase, if everyone went vegan.
A 2016 study published in PNAS found that a vegan diet would cut food-related emissions by 70%. A more conservative estimate from 2017, which factored in emissions from food waste currently fed to livestock that would have to be burned, found that switching to a vegan food system would decrease U.S. agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 28%.
Due to the feed and land livestock require, and the waste they generate, animal agriculture has a much higher carbon footprint than plant agriculture. For example, 100 grams of protein from beef generates 50 times more emissions than an equivalent serving of beans.
A 2014 study found that meat-eaters emitted between 99% and 102% more greenhouse gases than vegans. These findings are supported by a 2021 study that found global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods.