A study has found that explanatory or prominent labelling regarding the climate impact of a product could persuade people to choose more climate-friendly food. A clinical trial conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities concluded that providing information on the environmental impact of food products is an effective method to influence consumer choice.

The study was conducted following a report published in April this year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC), which urged world leaders to encourage people to adopt diets that produce fewer carbon dioxide emissions. Particular attention was paid to meat consumption, especially red meat such as beef and pork.

Should we be eating less red meat?

According to Greenpeace data, industrial meat production is the leading cause of deforestation worldwide, and its annual emissions are roughly equivalent to those produced by all the world's passenger cars, lorries and aeroplanes combined.

“The production of animal-based foods, driven largely by beef production, generates 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is a significant, modifiable contributor to climate change,” the study authors state. Policymakers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere have been discussing how to persuade people to consume less carbon-intensive products.