What we put on our plates also changes how much land, energy and emissions it takes to produce our food. Data published by FAO and by researchers show that animal-derived products require far more resources than plant-based ones. Here are the main figures, explained simply and with sources.
In short
- According to FAO, livestock agrifood systems produced about 6.2 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year in 2015, around 12% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
- Half of the world’s ice- and desert-free land is used for agriculture, and pasture plus cropland for animal feed make up 80% of agricultural land.
- Research suggests that if everyone shifted to a plant-based diet, agricultural land use would fall by 75%.
- Cutting out beef and dairy has a much larger effect than cutting out chicken or fish.
Greenhouse gas emissions
According to FAO, in 2015 livestock agrifood systems (on-farm activities and some supply-chain processes such as land-use change for feed, transport and input manufacturing) generated about 6.2 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent a year. That is around 12% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and about 40% of total agrifood-system emissions, which FAO estimates at about 16 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.
Without interventions and productivity gains, FAO estimates that livestock emissions could reach nearly 9.1 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2050 as demand grows. To reduce them, FAO considers improving productivity and efficiency along the whole chain the most promising route, and it also looks at demand-side measures. Overall, Our World in Data notes that food and agriculture are responsible for about a quarter of global emissions.
Farmland
Half of the world’s ice- and desert-free land is used for agriculture. Most of it serves livestock: the land needed for meat and dairy is equivalent to the area of the Americas. If we add grazing land and cropland used for animal feed, livestock accounts for 80% of agricultural land.
The differences between foods are large: producing a kilocalorie of beef or lamb takes 50–100 times as much land as plant-based alternatives, and a similar ratio holds for protein, comparing beef or lamb with peas or tofu. Our World in Data adds an important nuance: two-thirds of pastures are unsuitable for growing crops. So the question is also what to do with that land; it could return to natural vegetation, with benefits for biodiversity and carbon storage.
What a shift would mean
Research cited by Our World in Data suggests that if everyone shifted to a plant-based diet, agricultural land use would fall by 75%, through less grazing land and a smaller need for cropland. The same research shows that cutting out beef and dairy has a much larger impact than cutting out chicken or fish, and that it would be possible to feed everyone a nutritious diet on existing croplands, but only if plant-based diets spread widely.
What you can do
- Eat legumes, grains, vegetables and fruit more often, starting with a few vegan meals a week.
- Cook dishes you already know: see Fasting food and the Vegan guide to Moldova.
- If you are interested in the ethical reasons, read Animals and the Întrebări frecvente – etica vegană (in Romanian).
- For the link between diet and health, see Health and a vegan diet.
Limits and caveats
Estimates depend on the method and the reference year, and the figures are updated over time: FAO uses its GLEAM model, and Our World in Data relies on published research. Treat the percentages as orders of magnitude, not exact values.
Sources
- FAO: New FAO report maps pathways towards lower livestock emissions
- Our World in Data: If the world adopted a plant-based diet, we would reduce global agricultural land use from 4 to 1 billion hectares
- Our World in Data: Half of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture
Updated: 26 October 2026
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