The Science of Alt Protein: Accounting for land dictates the climate effects of alternative proteins
Event speaker:
Tim Searchinger
Princeton University
World Resources Institute
Webinar description
There is active debate about how land use should be factored into greenhouse gas accounting of food products. Many methods focus only on where agricultural products are generated, not how much land is used. Other methods factor in the carbon lost on average from existing agricultural land, known as the carbon opportunity cost of land. These accounting rules have profound significance for the extent and even whether alternative proteins are deemed to reduce emissions relative to animal products. Join us on January 18th to hear Tim Searchinger from Princeton University and World Resources Institute discuss correct carbon accounting as it relates to food production.
Meet the speaker
Tim Searchinger
SENIOR RESEARCH SCHOLAR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR FOR AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, & ECOSYSTEMS AT WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE
Tim Searchinger is a Senior Research Scholar at the School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University. He is also a Senior Fellow and the Technical Director for Agriculture, Forestry & Ecosystems at the World Resources Institute. Searchinger’s work today combines ecology, agronomy and economics to analyze the challenge of how to feed a growing world population while reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. His publications include many papers in Science and Nature addressing the greenhouse and other environmental implications of agriculture, bioenergy, forestry, and nitrogen pollution. He is also the lead author of several major reports, including Creating a Sustainable Food Future, a comprehensive report addressing these issues published in 2019 by WRI, the World Bank, and the United Nations. His research ranges from global analyses to projects in countries around the world, including Colombia, Rwanda, Zambia, Vietnam, and Denmark, and focuses both on issues of science and public policy. For the first part of his career, Searchinger worked as an environmental attorney, primarily at the Environmental Defense Fund, where he directed its work on agricultural policy, wetlands, and restoration of several major aquatic ecosystems. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School.
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