The UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), held in Dubai, has become an opportunity for some social media users to spread disinformation about its relation to the meat production industry, and that during the event, the countries will be obliged to restrict meat consumption. For a long time, the need to reduce the consumption of this product has been suggested, and the impact of the food production sector on climate is usually discussed at COP events, however, no new restrictions on meat are expected, let alone such severe ones.
Gloomy predictions for carnivores have been making the rounds on social media in the days leading up to the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference, known as COP28, that took place in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December.
"Great news!”said one user ironically on the social media network X on Monday. She quoted the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as saying: "The world's most-developed nations will be told to curb their excessive appetite for meat as part of the first comprehensive plan to bring the global agrifood industry into line with the Paris climate agreement."
Marc Morano, a prominent climate warming denier and politician, quoted a couple of days earlier on X from his blog Climate Depot: "Meat & dairy must be reined back’ to reach ‘Net Zero by 2050."
The impact of farming on the climate crisis will be a key UN COP28 topic, he said.
Another X user announced bluntly on the eve of the event: "COP28 will officially demand nations enforce restrictions on meat eating by their citizens."
None of these internet users cited specific documents or drafts thereof, or provided links to them or to the websites of organizations that set out a similar plan. All three shared links to media articles.
Some linked this narrative to the myth that became popular a year ago, that insects are bound to appear in food. The call to eat less meat is allegedly part of a plan to switch to such a diet.
This is not the first time a similar myth has been shared. German fact-checkers have deconstructed the falsehood that 100 cities will ban meat and dairy products or private cars from 2030.
An internet search for information based on the quote provided by the first X user leads not to an FAO report or proposal draft, but a text published on Sunday on the Bangladeshi website The Business Standard about the upcoming event. The photo used by the internet user in her post illustrates it.
It is an article by the US news agency Bloomberg entitled ‘Eat less meat is message for rich world in 'Food’s First Net Zero Plan’.’
Net Zero is a UN initiative to reduce emissions of so-called greenhouse gases as close to 0 as possible, so that any excess is reabsorbed by forests, oceans, etc.
Last weekend's article argues that COP28 should focus more on discussing the impact of food than previous conferences.
The world's most-developed nations will be told to curb their excessive appetite for meat, the agency said. This should be a part of the first comprehensive plan to bring the global agrifood industry into line with the Paris climate agreement.
"Countries that consume too much meat will be advised to limit their consumption, while developing countries, where underconsumption of meat is a major nutritional problem, will be asked to improve their livestock farming," the FAO was quoted as saying in less emphatic terms.
Nations that over-consume meat will be advised to limit their intake, while developing countries – where under-consumption of meat adds to a prevalent nutrition challenge – will need to improve their livestock farming, according to the FAO.
Food system, from farm to fork, accounts for around one third of greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this footprint is associated with livestock production, a major source of methane, deforestation and biodiversity loss.
"Although non-binding, the FAO's plan is expected to inform policy and investment decisions and give a push to the food industry's climate transition which has lagged other sectors in commitments," Bloomberg summarizes more gently in the text.
A similar point is made in a text published by the British daily The Guardian that was shared on Morano's website. Not only will the conference have a day dedicated to food for the first time, but there will also be a special pavilion at ExpoCity, where the negotiations will take place. For the first time, the FAO will also outline how food systems need to change to keep the world within the globally agreed target of limiting temperature increases above 1.5 degrees.
"This research is expected to show that animal farming, for meat and dairy, must be reined back from its continued growth around the world, if targets to halve emissions by 2030, and reach net zero by 2050, are to be met,” – stated The Guardian.
The UN's annual climate change conference, known as the Conference of the Parties or COP, brings together world leaders, ministers and negotiators to discuss how to tackle the climate crisis. Decisions here are taken by consensus, so they are reached after a lot of hard bargaining to take into account the different needs and interests of the countries, and it is difficult to know in advance exactly what the final outcome will be.
The negotiations involve governments that are signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and/or the Paris Agreement. Thousands of representatives from civil society, the private sector, international organizations and the media are also attending the COP.
The conference is held in a different country each year. COP28 is hosted by the United Arab Emirates and takes place in Dubai for almost two weeks from Thursday.
Since COP21 in 2015, these conferences have been discussing how to implement the Paris Agreement. It has three main objectives: to keep the increase in global average temperature "well below" 2 degrees, but aim to limit it to 1.5 degrees; to adapt to climate change and build resilience; and to reconcile financial flows with a low-emission and climate-resilient development path.
It comes at a very important time. Temperature records are being repeatedly broken and climate impacts are being felt through unprecedented forest fires, floods, storms and droughts around the world.
The UN Global Stocktaking notes that much more needs to be done to achieve the Paris Agreement's headline targets.
This year's conference is also particularly important because it marks the completion of the first global stock take (GST) of progress made in implementing the Paris Agreement.
“It is clear the world is not on track to meeting the agreement’s goals, but the hope is that governments at COP28 will come up with a roadmap to accelerate climate action," assessed the UK think tank Chatham House, stressing that governments must agree on how to transform food systems.
For its part, the World Economic Forum is calling for COP28 to become a "food COP". “We need to move towards a new agricultural model that meets the demand for food and related products, but has regeneration at its core", the Forum's experts stressed.
But food, and even more specifically meat consumption, will be far from being the only most important topic at COP28, contrary to the impression given by social media posts. Fossil fuels, technologies for reducing emissions, increasing clean energy capacity, covering the costs of climate change, etc. will all receive attention.
The food and agriculture programme of the conference can be found here, but there are no drafts indicating plans for mandatory restrictions on meat consumption.
The food chain involves many processes – growing, producing, transporting, delivering, processing, consuming and sometimes managing waste. Each of these steps generates greenhouse gasses that prevent the sun's heat from dissipating and contribute to climate change.
The UN estimates that around one third of all man-made greenhouse gasses are food-related. Most of it comes from agriculture. These include methane gas from cows digesting feed, nitrous oxide from fertilizers, carbon dioxide from deforestation and expansion of farmland, etc. Refrigeration and transport of food, manufacturing processes and waste recycling also add some gasses.
The intensity of these emissions is expressed in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents (including all greenhouse gasses) per kilogram of food, per gram of protein or per calorie.
Animal-based foods, especially red meat, dairy products and farmed shrimps, are associated with the highest emissions of these gasses.
Plant-based foods (fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts, etc.) generally require less energy, land and water and have a lower greenhouse gas intensity.
A plant-based diet with less meat products and saturated fats (milk, cheese, butter, coconut and palm oil, etc.) can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Alternative proteins, such as plant-based meat and dairy substitutes, proteins from insects, and lab-grown meat, are considered to have a much smaller impact on climate.