Nearly 85 kg per year per inhabitant. This is the weight of French meat consumption, according to data published by FranceAgriMer in 2021. Consumption which, after having fallen slightly since the end of the 1990s, tends to stabilize, or even to start on the rise. “Since 2013, the average consumption of meat has been stable in quantity, however, it has shifted towards more poultry, more meats consumed in restaurants and more processed meats (nuggets, cordon bleu, pizzas, etc.)”, explains to Ouest-France Lucile Rogissart, researcher at the think tank I4CE, the institute of economics for the climate.
Meat production is not without impact on the environment, its carbon footprint is even heavy. In a report published in 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimated that this sector emits approximately 6.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (Gt CO2-eq) emissions. per year, i.e. 12% of total emissions linked to human activitiesand almost 40% of all emissions linked to agri-food activities. Emissions which, in the absence of intervention, could amount to nearly 9.1 Gt CO2 eq by 2050.
In detail, it is the production bovine (meat and milk) which generates the most emissions: with 3.8 Gt CO2 eq per year, it represents 62% of total emissions due to animal production. This is followed by pig production with 14%, and poultry production which represents 9% of the total.
Methane, nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides
According to the report, 60% of the sector's total emissions come from direct emissions, including methane. This gas, with a warming power close to 30 times higher than CO2is mainly emitted by ruminants – oxen, but also lambs, sheep and goats – due to their particular digestive system. For pigs and poultry, it is mainly their diet that has an impact, due to the spreading of nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides on crops. “We need to produce a lot of cereals, protein crops, oilseeds, because we have a lot of animals to feed. If tomorrow we had fewer animals, we would not need to use so many pesticides and nitrogen on wheat because you would need fewer plant products to feed animals”, summarizes to Ouest-France Pierre-Marie Aubert, director of the Agricultural and Food Policies program at the Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) .
And animal production also causes other environmental damagesuch as water and soil pollution — linked to animal waste, nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides — or overconsumption of water. But also deforestation. “Of all the agricultural land in France and abroad necessary for our food, three quarters are dedicated to animal feed,” explains, still in Ouest-France, Carine Barbier, environmental economist at Cired (International Center for Research on Environment and Development). “There is a real issue from the point of view of deforestation which exists in Latin America, because of soy crops for example.”
For reasons related to both health and the environment, many choose to turn to meats from organic farming. But according to a study published in Nature Communications in 2020, organic meat production does not emit less greenhouse gases than conventional production. Because organically farmed animals live longer and therefore emit more greenhouse gases. “An industrial chicken is raised in 40 days, an organic chicken is double that, […] so it's better for animal welfare, […] but greenhouse gas emissions per kg of product are higher for organic chicken”, indicates to Ouest-France Michel Duru, research director, project manager at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, l food and the environment (INRAE) But according to certain studies, people with an organic diet do not emit more greenhouse gases per meal, because they tend to consume less meat than the average.
Halve your meat consumption
Reducing your consumption is precisely one of the solutions to limit the carbon footprint of meat production. Especially since France consumes more than necessary. “125 g of meat per day” Béatrice Morio, research director at INRAE and vice-president of the French Society of Nutrition (SFN), tells National Geographic. “However, numerous scenarios and forecasts indicate that half as much meat consumption could help to facilitate the achievement of climate objectives and respect for planetary limits.” A reduction which can be compensated for by plant protein intake from cereals, legumes and oilseeds, also a source of fiber, vitamins and minerals. According to a report from the Climate Action Network and the SFN, reducing meat consumption by half would allow reduction in carbon impact by 20 to 50%.
Another solution: turn to plant-based alternatives to meat, which are much less polluting. According to a study carried out by HappyVore, a vegetable steak emits 31 times less CO2 than a beef steak. And according to another study, published in the journal Nature Communications, replacing 50% of animal products with plant products would, by 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by 31%. and land use.
