Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.5C climate target, shows study

A cattle farm in central California, US. If people adopted the Harvard healthy diet, which allows a single serving of red meat a week, the rise could be cut by 0.2C. Photograph: David Litschel/Alamy

Emissions from the food system alone will drive the world past 1.5C of global heating, unless high-methane foods are tackled.

Climate-heating emissions from food production, dominated by meat, dairy and rice, will by themselves break the key international target of 1.5C if left unchecked, a detailed study has shown.