City and economy planning, work from home, basic income, degrowth ...
> energy
Renewable energy, insulation and heat pumps, not air-conditioners.
> protein from the working class
That's propaganda, and now you're getting somewhere. We already get 63% of our protein from plants. If we were to extend that to 100%, we could store our entire 1.5C carbon budget through afforesting and rewilding pastures, which would also help restore biodiversity.
Climate change, resource depletion, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, pollution, overpopulation, soil erosion, and overfishing are all but symptoms of ecological overshoot.
Switching off animal protein would help solve climate change (15-25% impact, co2/methane/n20), deforestation, pollution, soil erosion and overfishing.
So it's one of the most impactful things we should do ... helping to solve 5 things out of 7.
> But that approach also destroys most of the hope for technological solutions.
We don't have any such solutions, that's something that sways the attention from things we already have at our disposal (just wait for this one thing that may or may not come ...).
> And even if the richest countries did sacrifice everything
Rich countries did/are doing most of the damage, the poorest ones are the ones paying most for it. If everyone would act as we do, we would need several more earths.
> if many other countries continued pursuing growth of economies, consumption, and population
Should they stay underdeveloped, or die out just so we could still be living like pigs in clover ?
Protein is not created equally. It is not possible to maintain a healthy diet using sustainable low-energy sources of plant protein in place of meat. Meat is not an optional part of our diet. There have been plenty of studies detailing the dietary impact of vegan diets.
Sustainable eating is cheaper and healthier - Oxford study
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35719615/
Plant-based diets were protective against cancers of the digestive system, with no significant differences between different types of cancer, a meta-analysis based on 3,059,009 subjects
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2023/04/meat-tax-would-boost-health...
Meat tax would boost health and cut healthcare spending: research
https://www.foodingredientsfirst.com/news/over-17000-doctors...
Over 17,000 doctors call on White House to shape nutrition policy on plant-based diets
"It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes." - American Dietetic Association
"A vegetarian or vegan diet can be suitable for everyone, regardless of their age." - NHS UK
"[I]t is possible to follow a well-planned, plant-based, vegan friendly diet that supports healthy living in people of all ages, and during pregnancy and breastfeeding." - British Dietetic Association.
"For adults, protein from two or more plant groups daily is like to be adequate. " - World Health Organisation
> There have been plenty of studies detailing the dietary impact of vegan diets
Meat & dairy industry is spending massive amounts of money of keeping the status quo as long as possible, same as with cigarettes or fossil fuels. A lot of those studies are paid for, be aware.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/03/beef-ind...
Inside big beef’s climate messaging machine: confuse, defend and downplay
https://newrepublic.com/article/171781/meat-culture-war-cric...
Why Right-Wingers Are So Afraid of Men Eating Vegetables
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/11/the-meat-industry-is-borrow...
The meat industry is borrowing tactics from Big Oil to obfuscate the truth about climate change
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23778399/media-ignores-cl...
Why the media too often ignores the connection between climate change and meat
https://www.salon.com/2023/05/13/how-big-oil-is-manipulating...
Significant changes to energy/fuel usage and transport/travel were already hard for people to accept, with vast numbers of jobs/livelihoods so dependent on cars. But trying to take away meat at the same time (let alone all dairy) is just too much to ask, certainly not an election winner.
(So we get to 'conspiracy theories' about the WEF and global policy being dictated undemocratically, with a war on farming that nobody voted for set to cut food production at a time when we're told that the biggest risk from climate change is crop failure and famine...)
Nothing significant have happened yet.
> war on farming that nobody voted for set to cut food production
No one wants to reduce food production. We just need to do more of what is sustainable and avoid doing the things that are not.
> the biggest risk from climate change is crop failure and famine
And with deforestation and soil depletion our farming practices are one of the biggest culprits of that.
> conspiracy theories
Yep, let our politicians solve the problem ... but don't change a thing!
> It is not possible to maintain a healthy diet using sustainable low-energy sources of plant protein in place of meat.
Not true.
> Meat is not an optional part of our diet.
Not true.
> There have been plenty of studies detailing the dietary impact of vegan diets.
There have been. Some paid by meat industry, some peer reviewed and supporting my point.
Could you share some of those studies supporting your point?
There is so much consumption that is absolute crap and could easily be cut out while honestly improving life.
Would emissions really decline by a measurable amount if the changes were limited to that?
If we're going to have any impact on the climate, changes need to be drastic and on a global scale. But at the same time, governments will not accept an end to economic growth, let alone a managed 'degrowth'. They can't even allow an end to population growth as it's such an important factor in economic growth.
If we can't even end the era of hugely destructive wars between nations, what hope is there for the human race coming together on the scale necessary to slow/reverse climate change?
Yes, we can turn rich countries into poor countries by taking away transport, energy, and protein from the working class, and there's growing support for that approach.
But that approach also destroys most of the hope for technological solutions.
And even if the richest countries did sacrifice everything, would it be enough, if many other countries continued pursuing growth of economies, consumption, and population?