Prospective life cycle assessment of climate and biodiversity impacts of meat‐based and plant‐forward meals
A case study of Indonesian and German meal options
Dados Bibliográficos
The emerging field of prospective life cycle assessment (pLCA) offers opportunities for evaluating the environmental impacts of possible future consumption shifts. One such shift involves a transition from meat‐based to plant‐forward diets, acknowledged to mitigate environmental impacts of the food system under present day conditions. Current diets are often meat intensive (“meat‐based”), whilst “plant‐forward” diets include mainly plant‐based foods, encompassing flexitarian, vegetarian, and vegan diets. Here we illustrate the application of pLCA in a case study of meal options, implementing shared socio‐economic pathway scenarios in the LCA background system to represent future production conditions. We assess the climate footprints and land‐based biodiversity footprints of a typical meat‐based meal in Germany and Indonesia compared to a plant‐forward meal in both countries (i.e., four meals), now and in 2050. Our findings show that the plant‐forward alternative maintains a lower impact per serving in all future scenarios. At the same time, the reduction in impact for the meat‐based meals is more pronounced in future scenarios due to shifts in the agricultural system. Our findings highlight the importance of supply‐side measures to produce lower‐impact ingredients, complementing demand‐side interventions to reshape food consumption. Results are further evaluated in cultural and nutritional contexts, highlighting the practical decision‐making constraints faced by consumers. We find potential “leakage” effects in calories and nutrition when choosing a lower‐impact, plant‐forward meal. These leakage effects should be considered in future studies seeking to evaluate the environmental implications of meal substitutions in the context of broader dietary requirements
Agricultural economics · Agriculture · Biology · Business · Economics · Environmental economics · Environmental impact assessment · Geography · Life-cycle assessment · Meal · Natural resource economics · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact · Environmental Impact and Sustainability · Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability · Food Science
Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits
The ecoinvent database version 3 (part I)
Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity beyond the planetary boundary? A global assessment
Life Cycle Approaches to Sustainable Consumption
Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers
Planetary boundaries
Integration of future water scarcity and electricity supply into prospective LCA
A systematic approach to assess the environmental impact of emerging technologies
Methodology and optimization tool for a personalized low environmental impact and healthful diet specific to country and season
Futura
When the Background Matters
The health, environmental, and economic dimensions of future dietary transitions in Argentina
Shared Socio-Economic Pathways of the Energy Sector – Quantifying the Narratives
Exploring SSP land-use dynamics using the Image model
Country-specific dietary shifts to mitigate climate and water crises
The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and their energy, land use, and greenhouse gas emissions implications
The roads ahead
| Velocidade de citação | historical |
|---|---|
| Altamente citado | Não |