Producing food produces a lot of greenhouse gases. It produces billions of meters of emissions each year, and because of that, agriculture is in third place among the emitters. The first time the problem was a bigger topic was in 2023 at Dubai’s climate conference.
Agriculture and forestry are sensitive when it comes to climate change. They would be affected by the increased seasonal variability that disrupts agriculture cycles. A big problem for farmers is also the changes in rainfall patterns. Also, the extreme weather conditions like heat waves, droughts, storms, and floods are going to cause problems.
In 2019, the global amount of greenhouse gases from agriculture was around 25% to 34%. It is 17 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. This includes everything from land use, producing crops and livestock, household food consumption and waste, and also the energy that was used in farm and food processing. Agriculture is responsible for 10% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union.
There are two main greenhouse gases that are linked to agriculture: methane and nitrous oxide. Globally, food production emits 53% of methane and 78% of nitrogen oxide. Methane (CH4) is mostly from livestock digestion processes, manure management, and rice cultivation. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is mainly from fertilizing the soils with organic and mineral fertilizers, also from manure management. In the EU, during the period of 1990 to 2017, greenhouse gases were reduced by 19%. Also, the methane emissions were lowered by 21%.
The biggest greenhouse gas emitter in farming is livestock. Livestock produces about 14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gases. From this, cattle is responsible for 65% of emissions, and mainly methane. Ruminant animals, such as cows, goats and sheep, produce methane in the form of burps when they digest food. Manure storage, especially in large lagoons, also produces methane. Also, agriculture pollutes our waters and is responsible for the destruction of forests and other wild areas that are important for our planet’s atmosphere. Livestock is also responsible for the loss of biodiversity. Also, emissions are emitted when we produce the food for the livestock. Also, when we cultivate the land to grow crops, then it releases the stored carbon from the soil.
The aim of the common agricultural policy (CAP) is to ensure that farmers can adapt to climate change uncertainty, reduce emissions, and mitigate climate change.

In some countries, meat consumption is rather a luxury, or just from time to time, and this kind of consumption is not so bad for the environment. But on the other hand, most of the western diets include meat or meat by-products almost to every meal. Researchers suggest that the changes in our diet can help to reduce the emissions from agriculture.
All the plant-based protein sources have lower carbon- emissions than all the animal sources. Plants that are grown for human consumption are responsible for 21% of total greenhouse gas emissions. If we look at the differences on an on an even smaller scale, then they are huge. 100 grams of tofu produce 1.6 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, 100 grams of beef produce 25 kilograms of emissions.
Among different crops, the biggest emitters are coffee and chocolate. This is mostly because of the land-use changes when the farms are created. Also, the soy farms emit a lot during the plantation period, but most of the soy bean is actually used as animal feed.
A lot of energy is wasted during the process of growing the livestock for human consumption. First the animals need pastures and also the crop. The food that is grown for animal feed takes a lot of energy. Right now, the global land use for agriculture among different diets is: 740 Mha is used to grow for human plant-based food, 538 Mha is used to grow crops for animal feed, and 2.89 billion hectares are used for pasture. So therefore, it is much more energy efficient to consume a plant-based diet and include meat only from time to time.

A vegetarian diet can reduce your carbon footprint by over 50%. That is equal to if you would drive 2000 km less yearly. As already mentioned, for example, eating 100 grams of tofu rather than beef can reduce your carbon footprint by 16 times. Europeans consume a lot of meat, egg, and milk products. If the demand for this kind of product is lower, then it also reduces the impact on the environment. Because there is no need for great new pastures, and therefore a lot of forests are saved. This results in a higher carbon absorption from the atmosphere. If everyone would change their diet to a vegetarian, then we would reduce 75% of agricultural land. This is almost the same size as North America plus Brazil.
This doesn’t mean that everyone has to change their diet completely to vegetarian diets. But everyone should lower their meat consumption. For example, at least two days per week, no animal products. This could reduce your carbon footprint already by 25%.

There is also a practice called environmental vegetarianism. It’s a diet that is motivated by the desire to create a sustainable diet. With this diet, the consumer tries to avoid negative environmental impacts of meat production.

Sources:
https://sentientmedia.org/how-does-livestock-affect-climate-change/
https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/sustainability/environmental-sustainability/climate-change_en
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/factbox-how-food-agriculture-contribute-climate-change-2023-12-02/
https://www.fairplanet.org/story/how-does-a-vegetarian-diet-help-the-environment/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_vegetarianism