The United Nations wants investors to put their money in the plant-based industry. The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), an independent network backed by the United Nations that brings sustainability into investment practices is urging investors to back plant-based products.
A new report by the PRI, called The Inevitable Policy Response, discusses policies that will likely be implemented by 2050 in order to evade climate change. The report also included the impact these policies will have on the economy and financial markets.
The report describes the failure of the 2016 Paris Agreement’s long term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperatures below 2°C. PRI’s mission to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. It says this would have a more favourable impact on the planet.
Reaching 1.5 °C is “a far bigger challenge, but should remain the aspiration,” the report reads. But the forecast shows the world will go above the 1.5˚C target.
In light of this information, PRI says investors should focus on their research and development spending on key areas it calls the “Known Unknowns.”
These include hydrogen and bioenergy, low-carbon materials, and plant-based food products. The report further advises on the investment in plant-based foods. It says a “dietary change leading to less beef usage” is needed to cut down global warming.
The report also adds that deforestation will be “virtually eliminated by 2030,” which will enable investors to invest in more “nature-based solutions.”
Last year, Another report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also discussed the connection between climate change and animal agriculture.
The report called Climate Change and Land describes how the widespread consumption of plant-based foods is capable of mitigating climate change.
The IPCC revealed that the best way to reduce agriculture, forestry, and other land-use emissions, is to reduce deforestation and land degradation, minimize food and agricultural waste and shift towards a plant-based diet.
The report also described recommendations to help people cut down their meat intake. The report finds that consumption of “healthy and sustainable diets presents major opportunities” for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The IPPC supports and promotes the consumption of diets that are high in grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. It also suggests consuming “meat analogues” like plant-based meat and cultured meat.
