Wider Context

A report from the New Climate Institute finds that the UK has jumped the highest in its league of countries’ performance on tackling climate change, finishing behind only Denmark and the Netherlands.

While no country has performed well enough to qualify as a ‘very high’ performance, the UK’s ranking has been boosted by the new Labour government’s commitments to reduce emissions and roll out renewable energy across the country.

Despite this, the report says “the country is not on track to reach this target despite a significant reduction in 2023. While the coal exit was set for 2024, oil and gas use also need to be phased out…credible plans now only cover
one-third of the emissions reductions required to achieve the 2030 target“.

Ultimately, whether the UK can remain in its high position depends on whether it can follow through on ambition with effective implementation.

Overall meat consumption in the UK has fallen by 15% in a decade. This is largely due to people taking smaller servings, according to a study conducted from 2008 to 2019 by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the University of Edinburgh.

Researchers found that men and people from poorer backgrounds, who typically eat more meat, were more likely to have cut their consumption by switching to smaller portions. Meanwhile women and wealthier people were more likely to stop eating meat completely.

However, consumption of white meat has risen amongst the British public, with chicken and pork increasingly considered healthier than red meat.

The new Labour government has brought its plans for a publicly owned energy company, Great British Energy, to parliament.

The Great British Energy Bill was formally introduced to the House of Commons on the 25th of July, and the bill is expected to pass through its second stage in early September.

Following a long-standing commitment to base the energy company in Scotland, Labour have since announced GB Energy will be headquartered in Aberdeen. 

Government data showed that from March 2021 to March 2022, people in the UK consumed less meat than at any point since records began in the 1970s. The average Brit ate 854g a week, down 14% since 2012. 

The trend is thought to be driven by the cost of living crisis, Covid-19 and broader lifestyle changes.

Not all meats are equal here though: In the preceding decade, ‘carcass meat’ consumption (including beef, pork and lamb) fell by 26%, while chicken and other meat products fell by 11%. 

The data also shows a drop in Britons’ takeaway meat consumption in 2021-22, with people eating fewer burgers, kebabs and meat pies than at any point since the 1980s.

Government ministers have been criticised for their handling of emissions relating to meat consumption, after a key Government policy document appeared to circumnavigate the issue. The land use strategy for England – did not include reduction in area used for animal agriculture, despite being designed to ensure the country reaches its net zero and biodiversity targets, while helping farmers adapt to climate change and continue producing high-quality, affordable food. A senior Defra source commented “it’s not up to us to tell people what to eat”.

This is at odds with the government-commissioned National Food Strategy (NFS) which recommended that to achieve a sustainable future, the UK must reduce the proportion of farming land committed to animal agriculture (which stood at 85% at the time).

Henry Dimbleby, who led the NFS review, remarked that no government would tell the public to eat less meat as the message was “politically toxic”. 

In November 2023, food systems campaign group ‘Feedback’ applied to take the Government to Court for a judicial review over its ‘failure’ to tackle food and farming emissions in the Food Strategy. Feedback’s application was rejected, a move which the environmental group said revealed fatal flaws in the Climate Change Act.

The summer of 2022 in the UK saw numerous temperature milestones breached. On 19th of July, 40.3°C was recorded at Coningsby, Lincolnshire, setting a new UK and England temperature record by a margin of 1.6°C, while multiple stations across England also exceeded 40°C.

“This heatwave marked a milestone in UK climate history, with 40°C being recorded for the first time in the UK.”

“The UK’s recent extreme heat was far more intense and widespread than previous comparable heatwaves”

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on Friday 20th September 2019 in what was the biggest environmental protest in the UK to date. A rally in central London was attended by around 100,000 people.

From August 20th 2018 when Greta Thunberg first skipped school to protest for more action on climate change, to one of the largest movements of climate change activism across the world, the Fridays For Future movement resulted in 2019 being termed the “year of the climate strike“. Reuters present a timeline of the growth of Greta’s individual protest to global movement of activism.

This landmark IPCC report considers plant-based diets as a significant opportunity for reducing emissions, and includes reducing meat consumption as a policy recommendation.

Reducing food waste and improving farming practices (e.g. to halt soil damage and desertification) are also discussed as vital steps in protecting our food system and environment. 

IPCC Co-Chair, Eduardo Calvo Buendía, said: 

“The food system as a whole, which includes food production and processing, transport, retail consumption, loss and waste is currently responsible for up to a third of our global greenhouse gas emissions”.