Earthbeatwhat does humanity actually think?
Nature & the living world

Should we eat less meat to protect the diversity of life on Earth?

Where we stand

  • Agriculture is listed as a threat to about 24,000 of the roughly 28,000 species assessed as threatened with extinction.

    Source: IUCN Red List assessment, via Benton et al., Chatham House, 2021

  • Beef production alone drives roughly 41% of tropical deforestation.

    Source: Pendrill et al., Science, 2022

  • About half of habitable land is farmed and roughly 80% of that farmland is used for livestock, which supplies around 17% of calories and 38% of protein.

    Source: Poore & Nemecek, Science, 2018 (via Our World in Data)