Plant proteins from a climate perspectiveBreakthrough Energy policy playbook.. Some excerpts:
To avoid the most calamitous impacts of climate change, the world needs to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Breakthrough Energy’s release of its
Federal Climate Policy Playbook … addresses five “Grand Challenges” of emissions reduction: electricity, transportation, manufacturing, buildings, and agriculture…
Established by Bill Gates and a coalition of private investors concerned about the effects of climate change,
Breakthrough Energy is a network of entities and initiatives linked by a common goal to helpget the world on a path to net zero emissions by 2050. Its
investors include Michael Bloomberg, Richard Branson, and Jack Ma of Alibaba, and its priorities include supporting research and development on net-zero energy technologies; investing in companies that turn those technologies into scalable solutions; andadvocating for policies that will help move innovations from lab to market.
To construct the Federal Climate Policy Playbook, Breakthrough Energy enlisted scientists, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and experts to map out the most practical paths to reaching net-zero emissions. The resulting policy recommendations are targeted at U.S. federal government actors seeking to reduce carbon emissions and speed the deployment of new technologies from idea to market. The playbook notes that some policies—including investments in R&D—can spur transformational change across more than one sector.
Alternative proteins could transform agriculture It will be scientifically impossible for governments to meet their obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement to decarbonize the global economy unless the amount of meat produced via conventional animal agriculture significantly declines. With global livestock contributing
an estimated 14.5 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, our current food production methods are not efficient enough to meet the growing global demand for protein and reach zero emissions by 2050.
Alternative proteins—proteins made from plants, cultivated from cells, or derived via fermentation—are a long-term, durable solution to creating a carbon-neutral food system. With the right policies and investments, alternative proteins offer an opportunity to enhance our global food system’s efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector.
Recognizing their transformative potential for reducing agricultural emissions, the playbook’s U.S. federal
policy recommendations for alternative proteins include:
- Increasing federal investment in robust research and development for alternative proteins, including plant proteins, cellular agriculture, and microbial fermentation.
- Providing federal tax credits, financing, and other fiscal incentives to accelerate early deployment of alternative proteins.
- Adjusting federal procurement policy to get more plant-based options in stores and on menus.
- Developing a rational regulatory scheme for cultivated meat and seafood that ensures public safety while offering producers both a clear and efficient path to market and a level playing field with conventionally produced meat and seafood.
- Implementing sensible labeling standards that allow alternative proteins to be labeled in ways that consumers can understand.