It’s been a harsh summer in the northern hemisphere. In legendarily green, rainy England, roads melted in July, and the London Fire Brigade had its busiest day since World War II. People literally died of the heat – during the last two weeks of July, there were about 16% more deaths in the UK than normal for that time. Elsewhere, there has been immense climate-related suffering: horrific heatwaves in India and China, and devastating floods in Pakistan, China and Uganda.
Almost everyone has got the message by now: combating climate change is not something we can put off until the future – it is already starting to bite. When it comes to putting some teeth behind your actions, however, what kind of diet might help? What is the most climate-friendly diet, and is the trade-off malnourishment?
According to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a plant-based diet is the biggest behavioural shift a person can make to reduce their individual greenhouse-gas emissions. Food choice falls into the “shift” rather than “avoid” category, says the IPCC, because the global food system is responsible for about a quarter of human emissions.
But what exactly does “plant-based” mean? Merriam-Webster hasn’t yet added the term to its dictionary, stating that the definition is still unclear. To some people, it means cutting out all animal products, but to many, it encompasses low-meat diets. It can mean vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian.
Whatever rules you follow, there appears to
