Meat: the Future

The report assesses the potential for alternative proteins—including plant-based, insect-based, and cultured meats—to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and diet-related mortality. It highlights that while some alternatives offer significant benefits, their adoption depends on complex social narratives, regulatory environments, and the political economy of the food system. The analysis suggests that alternative proteins will likely coexist with traditional livestock, creating opportunities for synergy and a transition toward more sustainable food systems.

• Global meat consumption is increasing without a plateau, a trend that is incompatible with limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius and meeting several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Replacing beef with plant- or insect-based proteins can lead to significant greenhouse-gas emission reductions of 2326%, whereas current production methods for cultured beef offer more modest reductions of around 7%.
• Substituting beef with alternative proteins generally reduces diet-related mortality, with the most significant reductions (2.4%) seen with pea and mycoprotein, while cultured beef has a minimal effect (0.1% reduction).
• Alternative proteins can improve the intake of fibre and folates, but some may have negative nutritional impacts, such as the high sodium content in spirulina algae and the sodium and cholesterol levels in cricket flour.
• Consumer adoption of alternative proteins is driven by a complex interplay of supportive narratives (e.g., health, environment, animal welfare) and cautionary narratives (e.g., products being 'not real food' or the importance of livestock to rural economies).
• The transition to alternative proteins may disrupt the livelihoods of approximately 1 billion people, particularly in low-income countries where livestock is central to economic resilience.
• Regulatory environments are currently fragmented, with some jurisdictions in Europe and the US implementing laws to restrict the use of terms like 'meat', 'steaks', and 'sausages' for vegetarian products.
• The report concludes that the meat and alternative protein industries will coexist for the foreseeable future, and that the alternative sector will likely require the production and marketing expertise of the traditional protein sector to achieve scale.

APA

World Economic Forum (2019). Meat: the Future. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_White_Paper_Alternative_Proteins.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Meat: the Future. 2019. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_White_Paper_Alternative_Proteins.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Meat: the Future |date=January 2019 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_White_Paper_Alternative_Proteins.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2019meat, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Meat: the Future}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2019}, month = jan, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_White_Paper_Alternative_Proteins.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }