Livestock bosses celebrate outcome at online summit, while critics condemn failure to tackle meat and dairy consumption Lobbyists for the world’s biggest meat companies have lauded a better than expected outcome at Cop28, which they say left them “excited” and “enthusiastic” for their industry’s prospects. US livestock bosses reflected on the conference’s implication for their sector on a virtual panel, fresh from “sharing US agriculture’s story” at the climate summit in December. Campaigners and climate scientists had hoped the summit, which was billed as a “Food Cop” because of its focus on ..read more

CAP scheme, which pays more to farms that occupy more land, drives ‘perverse outcomes for a food transition’, says study The EU has made polluting diets “artificially cheap” by pumping four times more money into farming animals than growing plants, research has found. More than 80% of the public money given to farmers through the EU’s common agriculture policy (CAP) went to animal products in 2013 despite the damage they do to society, according to a study in Nature Food. Factoring in animal feed doubled the subsidies that were embodied in a kilogram of beef, the meat with the biggest environm ..read more

Academic experts also criticise UN Food and Agriculture Organization for dismissing alternative proteins The omission of meat-eating reduction from proposals in a UN roadmap to tackle the climate crisis and end hunger is “bewildering”, according to academic experts. The group also criticised the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s report for “dismissing” the potential of alternative proteins, such as plant-based meat, to reduce the impact of livestock on the environment ..read more

Financiers providing billion-dollar support for industrial livestock companies to expand leading to unsustainable rise in production Billion-dollar financing is driving unsustainable increases in global meat and dairy production, a report has found. Global meat production rose 9% between 2015 and 2021, the report said, while dairy production increased 13% in that time ..read more

Fancy a plate of fangers and mash? Some researchers say python farms on a commercial scale could provide sustainable alternative protein Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Dr Daniel Natusch has eaten python in almost every way imaginable. “I’ve had it barbecued. I’ve had it in satay skewers. I’ve had it in curries. I’ve had it with Indigenous people in the wilds of the Malaysian jungle,” he said. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup ..read more

Official estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics put the national herd at 26 million but a University of Queensland study says there could be up to 35 million Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter Join the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the community Australia has underestimated how many cattle it has by about 10 million, with significant implications for tracking greenhouse gas emissions, a Queensland researcher has said. Cows’ methane-laden burps are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions emitted by the red meat sector, which has an aspi ..read more

Campaigners say decision against Danish Crown, Europe’s largest pork producer, sends resounding message Europe’s largest pork producer misled customers with its “climate-controlled pork” campaign, Denmark’s high court has ruled in the country’s first climate lawsuit. Campaigners argued that Danish Crown greenwashed its meat with round, pink stickers on its packaging that said pigs were “climate-controlled”, along with a marketing campaign that claimed its pork was “more climate-friendly than you think ..read more

Lab-grown meat could become a mainstay in restaurants if products win regulatory approval. Biologists and chefs share menu ideas Whether roasted, grilled, fried or stewed, the combination of fat, umami and texture in a premium cut of meat is difficult to recreate. With sales of plant-based meat stagnating, the hunt for cruelty-free, sustainable and meaty-tasting alternatives continues. Enter lab-grown meat. Fermented in tanks, using cells from long-dead donors, it promises a more climate- and animal-friendly form of meat for the carnivore with a conscience. Last week, researchers announced tha ..read more

Argentinians are among the biggest consumers of beef in the world. But soaring inflation and a growing plant-based eating movement are changing diets in the home of the asado The billboard in Buenos Aires shows a piglet standing forlornly by a butcher’s fridge. “Dónde están mis amigos?” – “where are my friends?” – it reads. Such adverts have sprung up around Argentina’s capital as part of a concerted campaign by the animal rights groups Animal Save Movement and Voicot, an Argentinian organisation, to promote vegan diets. But in Argentina, eating meat – and in particular a steak – prepared on t ..read more

The impact of meat on the environment is well known, but what about staples such as rice and legumes? Biodiversity-conscious eaters could consider substituting potatoes for rice, cutting down on beef and lamb and asking where their beans, lentils and chickpeas are grown to reduce their impact on nature, a new study has found. Scientists analysed 151 popular recipes around the world for their biodiversity impact. They found meat dishes were the worst offenders: recipes including chilli con carne, salsa verde pork and a Spanish lamb dish called lechazo, all had high biodiversity damage scores c ..read more