What did IPCC say in their latest report? (UH) - IPCC does not recommend people's diets

Yesterday the inter-governmental IPCC committee handed out their latest report. Dome pundits claimed the reports suggested that we need top change our diet. On the interactive media platform Twitter, IPCC themselves wrote:  IPCC does not recommend people's diets. What we've pointed out on the basis of the specific evidence is that there are certain diets that lower carbon footprint. Many experts masse' comments on the report. 8 sidor.

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Yesterday the inter-governmental IPCC committee handed out their latest report (1;2) concerning the climate.  The media outlets went for it, some claiming the report contained advice on diet. IPCC used interactive media (Twitter) to reject that. Using IPCC 2019, this came up when googling:

Climate crisis reducing land’s ability to sustain humanity, says IPCC (The Guardian).

“The report, approved by the world’s governments, makes clear that humanity faces a stark choice between a vicious or virtuous circle. Continued destruction of forests and huge emissions from cattle and other intensive farming practices will intensify the climate crisis, making the impacts on land still worse.
However, action now to allow soils and forests to regenerate and store carbon, and to cut meat consumption by people and food waste, could play a big role in tackling the climate crisis, the report says”.

World food crisis looms if carbon emissions go unchecked, UN says (National Geographics).

“The impacts of climate change on land are already severe and will substantially increase food prices, risking widespread food instability, says a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The Special Report on Climate Change and Land warned that a food crisis looms, especially in tropical and sub-tropical regions, if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions go unchecked. Rising temperatures may also reduce the nutritional value of crops and will significantly reduce crop yields, the report said”.

Report: we have to change how we eat and grow food to fight climate change (Vox).

“The conclusions lay out a crucial paradox. Humans have harnessed land to develop into the highly successful species we are today. But our destructive patterns of land use — particularly agriculture, deforestation, and development of wetlands — now contribute 23 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions”.

Gloom from the climate-change front line (The Economist).

“The report these exhausted delegates produced—all 1,300 pages of it—fires another warning shot about the state of the planet and the way people are transforming virtually every corner of every continent. Human activities affect roughly three-quarters of Earth’s ice-free land, with huge consequences for the climate.

Land masses are natural carbon sinks, absorbing greenhouse gases by a variety of processes, including photosynthesis. They also produce such gases—for instance, when vegetation decomposes or burns. By conserving some ecosystems and destroying others to make way for pastures and fields, or chopping down trees for timber, human activities on the land add an extra layer of complexity to already complex natural cycles”.

New IPCC report shows land use is part of solution to climate change (Ars Technica).

“Human land use contributes almost a quarter of our current greenhouse gas emissions. Clearing forests takes the carbon in the vegetation and adds it to the atmosphere as CO2. Farming can also result in a release of carbon as CO2, nitrous oxide from fertilizer, and methane from (primarily) livestock and rice paddies.
Land ecosystems naturally take up carbon from the atmosphere, and some of humanity’s emissions have ended up in these ecosystems (or the ocean) rather than the atmosphere—without this helpful uptake, the world would be warming even faster. But if you add all the greenhouse gas fluxes together, land ecosystems are soaking up a little less than our land use is emitting. In addition, the amount these ecosystems can soak up in the future will very likely change as the impacts of climate change worsen”.

IPCC report reveals land use accounts for 23% of greenhouse gas emissions (Bioenergy News).

“A new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that a shift in land use is vital in order to prevent a climate emergency.
Based on the findings of thousands of scientific studies from across the globe, the IPCC report concludes that land use currently accounts for 23% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Major contributors cited in the report include deforestation, the destruction of other habitats such as peatlands, and livestock.
The report states that food and drink production alone has been the driver behind 75% of deforestation by area size to date. As well as climate change, the IPCC report warns that the ways in which humanity uses land are speeding up biodiversity loss”.

Eat Less Meat, Protect Forest are some ways people can deal with Global Heating (Firstpost).

“From eating less meat to farming with fewer chemicals and protecting forests, there are many ways people can use land more wisely to rein in global warming and feed a growing population at the same time, a scientific report is due to say this week.
The flagship study from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a U.N. body, looks at the impacts of a hotter planet on land, including desert expansion. But it also examines how human activities, such as clearing forests for cattle ranches, in turn affect temperatures”.

Swedish representative at IPCC: “Measures required to achieve the climate goals”; Sveriges representant i IPCC: “Krävs åtgärder för att nå klimatmålen” (Svt).

“More than 70 percent of all ice-free land surfaces are used today to produce food, feed, wood, energy crops and fibers for textile production. Reducing emissions is a prerequisite for reaching the 1.5-degree target, notes the IPCC's summary of global climate research.

“Food production and forestry are fundamental to society,” says Markku Rummukainen, climate expert and Sweden's representative on the UN Climate Panel”.

The Climate Panel's verdict: Our way of using chips increases on heating; Klimatpanelens dom: Vårt sätt att använda marker ökar på uppvärmningen (YLE (sv.)).

“The message is clear and we have heard it before. We must change our farming methods, restore peatlands and woodlands where it is possible, and eat less meat and more vegetables. We are dependent on the earth and our future depends on how we use it.

In its Special Report on Food Supply and Agriculture, the UN Climate Panel IPCC has investigated how changing weather conditions affect desertification, land depletion and global food access”.

The politicians on the IPCC meat recommendation: “Finns can choose for themselves”; Politikerna om IPCC:s köttrekommendation: “Finländarna kan välja själva” (YLE (sv)).

“The members of the UN climate panel IPCC do not want to tell people what to eat, but instead call on politicians to create incentives to eat less meat.

The politicians that Yle reached did not make many direct promises to encourage citizens to more vegetarian diet”.

On interactive media platform Twitter, IPCC themselves wrote:

IPCC does not recommend people's diets. What we've pointed out on the basis of the specific evidence is that there are certain diets that lower carbon footprint”.

Erica Hauver, Corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. Sustainability advisor turned activist. Public health optimist thanks to #LCHF #KETO & #microbiome research. Mom/Mum, wrote:

“Today's news is full of lazy & misleading characterizations of this important Special Report on Climate and Land from  @IPCC_CH. Despite the the tsunami of headlines/stories about “going vegan” to reverse climate change, that is NOT what this report is about, or says. See thread” (länk).

In Hauver's thread:

“The policy recommendations are varied and far reaching, covering farming practices, food waste, land use, financial incentives, and yes, diet. Section B6.2 recommends diversification of diet, INCLUDING sustainably sourced animal products”.

“Concerns about beef focus on: 1) halting deforestation driven by cattle ranching in some countries; 2) reducing ruminant methane emissions through advances in their diets. Despite the headlines & distorted reporting, this report does not tell the world to switch to a vegan diet”.

“Now my rant, as someone whose work and policy interests lie at the intersection of nutrition/health & climate. Journalists would do FAR more to move the needle on both topics if they focused on two wholly neglected issues:”

“1. The potential to reduce the crushing impacts of fake food and beverages on our health, the environment, and our economy -- rather than advocating the elimination one of the most nutrient dense real food products (meat) on the planet from our diets”.

“2. The enormous impact of food waste on the environment and our economy. Unlike the elimination of whole food meat & dairy products, which involves significant nutritional losses, eliminating fake foods & food waste offer a genuine  “win/win/win” for health, environment, economy”.

Dr Frank Mitloehner, professor,  air quality specialist, Animal Science, UC Davis:

“The IPCC Report released today, focuses on critical areas of land use, land use changes (esp regional diff) and the need for more efficient food production and less waste. Let’s look into the emissions and sinks of GHG in the US as reported in the last inventory. /1

EPA inventory data from 2017 show that direct GHG emissions from Agriculture were 542.1 MMT of CO2e.

At the same time, agriculture & forestry,  land use, land use change resulted in net reductions of GHG via sequestration, amounting to -714.1 MMT CO2e.  /2

In other words, in the US, agriculture and forestry are a greater sink than source of GHG. Ag & forestry, land use, land use change amounted to -172 MMT.

This is what I mean when saying that we need a nuanced discussion.  /3

Source: (link: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-04/documents/us-ghg-inventory-2019-main-text.pdf) epa.gov/sites/producti… (check the end of the full table on emissions in section on 6-1)  /4

Roz Pidcock, Science comms lead for @ClimateOutreach and freelance consultant. Previously head of communications at @IPCC_ch WGI & deputy editor of @CarbonBrief:

“Should be said, the @IPCC_CH doesn't 'urge people' to do anything. Message that some #diets produce less emissions than others - and can be powerful part of tackling #climatechange -  is strong but nuanced. Locally and culturally specific. Good explanation from Jim Skea just now

What today's @IPCC_CH  report actually says about #diets and #climatechange. More nuanced than headlines suggest though note 'major opportunities' and 'significant co-benefits' language - pretty strong in IPCC parlance. And there's an attachment from IPCC report (B6.2) where the following text is highlighted:

“Balanced diets, featuring plant-based foods, such as those based on coarse grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and animal-source food produced in resilient, sustainable and low-GHG emission systems, present major opportunities for adaptation and mitigation while generating significant co-benefits in terms human health (high confidence).

Transitions towards low-GHG emissions diets may be influenced by local productions practices, technical and financial barriers and associated with livelihoods and cultural habits (high confidence)” [5.3, 5.5.2, 5.5, 5.6]

Also worth noting, today's @IPCC_CH report is *only* about land so doesn't talk about energy, fossil fuels, industry, heating,  transport that are VERY important in tackling #ClimateChange. Sustainable #diets are an important (and tangible) part of the solution #nosilverbullet.

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