Alternative proteins are a biodiversity solution
The stakes for biodiversity around the world are high. One-third of all plant and animal life alive today is at risk of extinction by 2070. Shifting toward alternative proteins is key to reversing deforestation and biodiversity loss while still meeting the growing global demand for meat.
Alternative proteins are nature-positive proteins
It’s impossible to halt and reverse biodiversity loss without addressing agriculture. We’re running out of room for food production, leading to the clearing and conversion of forests and other land and aquatic ecosystems. Nutrient runoff and other pollutants from conventional meat production flow daily from field to sea, creating oxygen-depleting dead zones in coastal areas. The rising global demand for seafood is stretching the production capacity of our oceans and coasts beyond sustainable limits and driving an unprecedented decline in global marine biodiversity.
We need nature-positive proteins now more than ever1.
Transitioning toward alternative proteins is a conservation strategy that addresses two leading stressors to biodiversity2: land use change driven by agricultural expansion and pollution. A transition toward alternative proteins could reduce the amount of land needed to feed the human population by as much as 75 percent3, freeing up three billion hectares of land around the world—the equivalent area of North America and Brazil combined—for ecological restoration, renewable energy, and regenerative agriculture.
Compared to conventional meat, plant-based meat uses up to 93 percent less land and 99 percent less water4. Cultivated meat requires up to 90 percent less land than conventional beef, and could reduce air pollution by up to 94 percent5. Substituting just 20 percent of beef with microbial proteins from fermentation could cut deforestation in half by 20506.
Simply put, if we can feed more people with fewer resources and with a minimal carbon footprint via alternative proteins, we can protect and restore habitats and biodiversity.
More protein with less cropland
More than 50 percent of land in the United States supports animal agriculture. This analysis shows that with a 50-percent shift toward alternative proteins, 47.3 million acres of U.S. cropland currently used for domestic animal protein consumption could be transitioned to other land uses, such as land restoration to help achieve the U.S. climate and biodiversity goals.
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Sources
- Nature Positive Initiative. https://www.naturepositive.org/
- Jaureguiberry, P. et al. (2022). The direct drivers of recent global anthropogenic biodiversity loss. Science Advances. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abm9982
- Ritchie, H. (2021). If the world adopted a plant-based diet, we would reduce global agricultural land use from 4 to 1 billion hectares. Our World In Data. https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets
- Keoleian, Heller. (2018). Beyond Meat’s Beyond Burger Life Cycle Assessment: A detailed comparison between a plant-based and an animal-based protein source. University of Michigan. https://css.umich.edu/publications/research-publications/beyond-meats-beyond-burger-life-cycle-assessment-detailed
- Sinke, et al. (2023). Ex-ante life cycle assessment of commercial-scale cultivated meat production in 2030. Springer Nature. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-022-02128-8
- Gramling, C. (2022). Replacing some meat with microbial protein could help fight climate change. Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/meat-microbial-protein-climate-change-deforestation-fungi-algae