The committee’s Emily Nurse said: “If you think about the average amount of meat that a person eats in the UK, if that were all converted to doner kebabs – and I’m not saying that all anyone eats in the UK is doner kebabs, this is just to visualise – then the average amount would be around eight a week.
To cut emissions from meat and dairy production – and free up land for tree planting to absorb carbon – experts believe people would have to eat 25% less meat by 2040 compared with 2019 levels and reduce dairy by 20%.
Sir Keir Starmer said the battle to tackle climate change “does not mean telling people how to run their lives” after experts suggested cutting meat consumption by the equivalent of two kebabs a week.
The Prime Minister said the commitment to reaching net zero emissions was “important for the next generation” but telling people how to live their lives was “not the right way to go about it”.
The Climate Change Committee said there was already a gradual trend towards lower meat consumption in the UK, but the reduction would have to go further to help meet emissions targets.
