Joint letter expressing serious concern over the FAO’s recent Pathways report

The document is a formal statement by a coalition of NGOs and academics criticizing the FAO's 'Pathways towards Lower Emissions' report for underestimating the climate mitigation potential of dietary shifts. The authors argue that the report contains systemic biases and methodological failures, such as double-counting emissions and using obsolete dietary guidelines. They call for a retraction of the report, a delay of the upcoming 2050 Roadmap report until these issues are addressed, and greater transparency regarding the GLEAM livestock emissions methodology.

• The FAO's 'Pathways towards Lower Emissions' report is accused of significantly underestimating the emissions mitigation potential of shifting diets toward lower animal product consumption, potentially by a factor of 6 to 40 compared to a business-as-usual 2050 scenario.
• The FAO's estimate that dietary change could reduce livestock emissions by 0.19-0.53 Gt CO2-eq per year is contradicted by the IPCC, which found that plant-based diets could mitigate emissions by 0.7 – 8 GtCO2-eq per year.
• The 'Pathways' report contains several critical methodological errors, including double-counting meat emissions to 2050, mixing different baseline years, and using obsolete national dietary recommendations from countries like Spain, Germany, Denmark, and China.
• The authors express concern that the flawed analysis from the 'Pathways' report may be used to inform the upcoming 2050 Roadmap report, and they recommend delaying the Roadmap's release until the FAO engages with independent experts.
• There is a demand for transparency regarding the Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model (GLEAM), as total global livestock emissions estimates have declined from 7.1 GtCO2-eq in 2013 to 6.2 GtCO2-eq in 2023 despite growth in production volumes.
• The letter calls for the FAO to collaborate with the World Health Organisation and nutritional experts to validate the adequacy of healthy diets with fewer animal products, noting that guidelines in countries like Denmark support 350g of meat per week as adequate.

APA

Smith, C. (2024). Joint letter expressing serious concern over the FAO’s recent Pathways report. Changing Markets Foundation. https://changingmarkets.org/joint-letter-expressing-serious-concern-over-the-faos-recent-pathways-report/

Chicago

Smith, Caitlin. Joint letter expressing serious concern over the FAO’s recent Pathways report. Changing Markets Foundation, 2024. https://changingmarkets.org/joint-letter-expressing-serious-concern-over-the-faos-recent-pathways-report/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Smith |first1=Caitlin |title=Joint letter expressing serious concern over the FAO’s recent Pathways report |publisher=Changing Markets Foundation |date=8 July 2024 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/joint-letter-expressing-serious-concern-over-the-faos-recent-pathways-report/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{smith2024joint, author = {Smith, Caitlin}, title = {{Joint letter expressing serious concern over the FAO’s recent Pathways report}}, publisher = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/joint-letter-expressing-serious-concern-over-the-faos-recent-pathways-report/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }