Transition from Animal-Based to Plant-Based Food Production to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture—The Case of Denmark

by 

Adam A. Prag

 and

Christian B. Henriksen

 ^*

Department of Plant and Environmental Science, University of Copenhagen, Taastrup, 2630 Copenhagen, Denmark

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2020, 12(19), 8228; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198228

Received: 16 September 2020 / Revised: 1 October 2020 / Accepted: 4 October 2020 / Published: 6 October 2020

Curbing emissions from agriculture, and especially from livestock production, is essential in order to fulfil the Paris Agreement. Shifting to a diet lower in meat consumption has been emphasized in several studies. Based on the Planetary Health Diet developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission, this study investigates the effect on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions of transitioning the Danish agricultural system, which currently relies mainly on meat and dairy production, towards increased focus on plant-based foods, combined with replacement or reduction of imported feed and carbon sequestration on previous agricultural land. The study finds a large potential for reducing emissions from Danish agriculture through implementation of the Planetary Health Diet, with reductions of up to 21.7 Mt CO2e (CO2 equivalents) (92.9%) under the most ambitious conditions. This demonstrates the potentially large benefits from transitioning towards a more plant-based European agricultural sector and underscores the need for European and national policies incentivizing this transition   View Full-Text

MDPI and ACS Style

Prag, A.A.; Henriksen, C.B. Transition from Animal-Based to Plant-Based Food Production to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture—The Case of Denmark. Sustainability 2020, 12, 8228.

AMA Style

Prag AA, Henriksen CB. Transition from Animal-Based to Plant-Based Food Production to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture—The Case of Denmark. Sustainability. 2020; 12(19):8228.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Prag, Adam A.; Henriksen, Christian B. 2020. "Transition from Animal-Based to Plant-Based Food Production to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture—The Case of Denmark" Sustainability 12, no. 19: 8228.