How Meat and Dairy Consumption is Killing the Planet
By Michael Fousert via Unsplash
By Emma Crossan
Did you know that the meat and dairy industry make up 70% of greenhouse gas emissions?
A report released from ClimateChange.org confirmed that animal agriculture is one of the biggest contributors to climate change.
In December 2025, Viva confirmed that the number of land animals slaughtered in the UK in 2025 had reached 1.2 billion.
Can our planet afford the high levels of gas emission that comes from slaughtering billions of animals every year?
Greenhouse gases are a major factor in climate change, as gases such as carbon monoxide and methane can trap heat, contributing to global warming.
Around 29% of greenhouse gas emissions come from meat, dairy and fish production. Some 10% from providing animal feed to livestock and 8% from transporting livestock in the UK.
Cattle produce large amounts of greenhouse gases due to the methane they release when digesting feed.
The methane released from cattle is potent, so much so that it is having a negative effect on climate change.
With the huge number of animals being slaughtered for consumption each year, the methane gases released from this process have the potential to be catastrophic to the planet.
Livestock farming is not the only factor contributing widely to climate change.
It takes a concerning amount of water to meet the current demands of the industry.
The Senior Environment Campaigner at Viva confirmed that agriculture is using up to 70% of water resources.
Animal agriculture requires large amounts of water usage, due to the process of growing crops for animal feed, sanitization and spraying crops.
The Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO) states that the water usage required for food consumed by one person can vary from 2000 litres to 5000 litres.
This can differ depending on whether animal or plant-based food is produced.
Open Access Government shared statistics regarding water consumption in the food industry, with beef being the highest contender with 15,415 litres of water being used per kilogram.
This is followed by lamb, which uses 10,412 litres per kilogram.
Plant-based whole foods use the lowest amount of water during production.
Vegetables are shown to use 322 litres of water per kilogram, which is significantly lower than the amount used for meat and dairy products.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) confirmed that on average, the UK consumes over 80 kilograms of meat per year.
The figures show that plant-based products use up the least amount of water, while animal products involve a high amount of water usage.
The results show that the meat industry is responsible for high levels of methane gas being released into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change.
Therefore, should UK consider cutting out – or even eliminate– animal products from their diet?