World Bank: Plant-Based is a Win-Win Solution to Reach Net Zero by 2050
Written by: Annie Taranshansky
In a new report that is making headlines, titled Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System, the World Bank calls for a reduction in animal-based food production and a shift towards a more plant-based, carbon-friendly method of agriculture. As a leading international financial lending institution, the boldness of this statement is significant. Arguing that the global agrifood industry’s climate impact has not been paid enough attention – as the fight towards net zero by 2050 saunters on – the World Bank urges global economies to shift their spending and reallocate resources towards meaningful, plant-forward food system transformation – and raise the price of animal-based meat.
Pricing the Planetary Cost into the Equation
The report states, “the full cost pricing of animal-sourced food to reflect its true planetary costs would make low-emission food options more competitive.” A recent study found that, in the United States, about 800 times more public funding and 190 times more lobbying money goes to animal-based food products rather than plant-based foods or alternative proteins. The government subsidies that are funneled into animal-based industrial food production artificially lower the cost of high-emitting animal products, resulting in an unfair market. Price parity for plant-based foods can level an uneven playing field, and provide consumers with the choice to eat in line with their dietary needs and values – whether motivated by sustainability, health, or simply preference.
The World Bank offers us a path forward and a global strategy for food system transformation: If wealthy countries shift subsidies towards low-emitting plant-based food alternatives, the shift in spending would in turn reduce the demand for high-carbon animal proteins. Essentially, the World Bank believes climate impact should be reflected in the price of food. Along with other mitigation strategies, such as “greener by default,” diversifying protein production towards plant-based meat and dairy, and “normalizing plant-based foods by displaying them side by side with [animal products],” the report indicates that these investments can move us in line with the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.
The conclusions of this report are well-timed considering growing awareness of the connection between food and climate and the desire of American shoppers to purchase foods that consider sustainability.
A Plant-Based Food System Can Help Feed the World Safely
Studies have shown that we cannot limit global warming to the pre-industrial climate threshold of 1.5°C without addressing the impact of our food system. The World Bank reinforces this data, and notes that plant-based proteins provide a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, producing “34 percent less than farmed fish, 43 percent less than poultry, 53 percent less than pig meat, 72 percent less than crustaceans, 87 percent less than dairy herds, and 93 percent less than beef herds.” Overall, the report argues that shifting global diets plant-based could reduce harmful emissions twice as much as other methods.
In addition to a significant reduction in emissions, moving away from industrial animal agriculture would reduce the prevalence and rise of zoonotic diseases caused by antibiotic resistance, toxic runoff, deforestation, water and air pollution, and biodiversity and habitat loss.
As a World Bank official told POLITICO, “We have to stop destroying the planet as we feed ourselves.”
Looking ahead to 2050
Beyond the wealth of innovation that has brought the plant-based foods industry to the level of success it sees today, government support is crucial to realizing the full potential of our sector. Axel van Trotsenburg writes in the report’s forward, “Governments need to create the legal and economic conditions to facilitate this transformation.”
Here in the U.S., there have been a few recent examples of government support with the rise in local governments prioritizing this goal, as in the case of NYC offering plant-based default meals in hospitals. On the federal level, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) recently updated their guidelines for the first time in a decade in an effort to give low income mothers and children access to more plant-based dairy options. We also look with promise at plant-positive legislation such as the PLANT Act, which “seeks to provide more opportunities for farmers producing ingredients used in plant-based foods, support food companies in their transformative work, and bolster USDA efforts to promote the export of plant-based foods.”
These are all significant starting points, but it is clear that concerted focus and support is needed to realize the transformation outlined in the World Bank report. PBFA/I are actively working to advocate for policies that create an enabling environment for the plant-based industry to thrive; PBFA’s policy work is heavily focused on advocating for plant-based foods at the federal level and shifting government support more plant-based.
If you are a PBFA member and are interested in representing the plant-based foods industry at the heart of the action, join us for our first-ever PBFA-wide D.C. Lobby Day, where PBFA policy staff and members will be congregating at the Capitol to make sure our industry’s voice has a seat at the table.
The plant-based foods industry represents an opportunity to catalyze positive food system change. As the World Bank report and many others conclude, increasing support for plant-based foods is imperative to ensure sustainability for people and the planet alike.