A meat tax could save our planet

Here’s why taxing your next cheeseburger at 60% might happen someday

A silly concept to control climate change

The biggest climate problem we don’t talk about

Animal rearing is a big greenhouse gas contributor

We need to reduce meat consumption to meet our climate goals

Offsetting climate issues through meat taxation

More plant-based proteins are needed in our diets

The average American eats this much meat a year

The United States consumes a lot of the world’s meat

Reducing American meat consumption won’t be easy

Will we leave America’s poorest in the lurch?

Here’s why taxing your next cheeseburger at 60% might happen someday

Solving the climate crisis and ensuring the future stability of our world is one of the most pressing challenges humanity currently faces. But are people willing to do whatever it takes to save the planet, and does that include taxing hamburgers?

A silly concept to control climate change

It seems like a silly concept but taxing meat may be one of the best ways to change our climate outcome for the better according to a 2022 research study that was published in the Review of Environmental Economic and Economic Policy.

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The biggest climate problem we don’t talk about

Professor Linus Mattauch from the Oxford Martin School was one of the lead co-authors of the study and explained in a press release from the university that livestock farming is one of the biggest contributors to many of our current issues.

Photo Credit: Twitter @LinusMattauch

Animal rearing is a big greenhouse gas contributor

Livestock rearing is not only a prime contributor to greenhouse gas emissions according to Mattauch, but it also plays a part in water and soil pollution as well as deforestation in the clearing of land for pasture and crops to feed livestock.

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We need to reduce meat consumption to meet our climate goals

The problem is apparently so bad that evidence suggests the world will not be able to meet its climate goals, and keep our planet’s vital ecosystems intact, unless we reduce our levels of meat consumption. But how do we go about it?

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Should we tax meat?

One solution Mattauch and his fellow researchers proposed was a tax on meat so that it could guide consumer decisions to diets that are less meat-heavy. However, this measure is not likely to win over advocates in meat-centric countries.

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Offsetting climate issues through meat taxation

Researchers suggested the average retail price of almost every meat would need to see a huge increase in cost to offset their climate issues. For example, the study stated beef would need an increase in price of 35% to 56%. That’s a lot.

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The increased cost of other meats

Don’t think that you could get away with cutting beef from your diet either. If you wanted to replace cow meat with lamb then you’d still be looking at a price increase of 19% and switching to chicken would see prices increase by 25%.

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More plant-based proteins are needed in our diets

Mattauch blamed Western diets as the most destructive but also said that people didn’t need to fully cut meat out of their diets, but added the diets of the future needed to add in more plant-based proteins and novel replacements.

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Can we change our meat-heavy diets?

“Alongside other measures, consumption taxes on meat could be an important lever to incentivize that transition,” Mattauch explained. But will Westerns be okay with making these changes to their traditionally meat-heavy diets?

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The average American eats this much meat a year

Bloomberg News noted in a report on taxing meat that Americans eat an average of 280 pounds of meat annually whereas some people in poorer countries only consume about 10 pounds of meat per year.

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The United States consumes a lot of the world’s meat

Moreover, the news outlet added that the United States is the world's third-largest eater of beef and the sixth-largest consumer of chicken. These numbers clash with America’s ability to meet its climate change promises.

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Offsetting climate issues through meat taxation

Research from the non-profit organization Compassion in World Farming found that the United States cannot meet its climate goal of keeping Earth’s temperature rise below a balmy 1.5C without reducing its meat consumption by 82%.

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Reducing American meat consumption won’t be easy

Getting Americans to reduce their meat consumption by such a large amount might not seem doable but Bloomberg’s Mark Gongloff noted that even reducing consumption by half could cut carbon emissions related to diet by 43%.

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Will we leave America’s poorest in the lurch?

Whether or not Americans would be willing to make the sacrifice isn’t not yet known but taxing meat could leave the country’s poorest in the lurch. However, Gongloff said that the issue could be fixed through tax rebates for poorer Americans.

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A solution to our climate woes

So, would you be willing to pay 60% more for your next cheeseburger if it meant helping to meet the world’s climate goals? There are still many issues like meat producers and farmers going out of business, but taxing meat could be a solution to our climate woes.

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