Land use crisis
Livestock farming is killing the planet and we are running out of room
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, Climate Change and Land, highlights the damage livestock farming is doing to the land surface of the planet. Contributed to by 107 experts from 52 countries, the report found that a half-billion people already live in places turning into desert and soil is being lost between 10 and 100 times faster than it is forming. The authors say a shift towards a plant-based diet would help preserve land, lower greenhouse gas emissions and benefit health.
IPCC. 2019. Climate Change and Land. www.ipcc.ch/report/srccl
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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