Supermarkets must commit to selling less meat if Britain is to reach net zero by 2050, a charity has warned.
According to a Food Foundation study, none of the UK’s 11 major grocers has set a target for reducing sales of “animal-based protein”.
“This… will be vital if the UK is to shift to a net zero carbon economy and hit targets for drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” it said.
Only Sainsbury’s and Tesco report the proportion of protein sales that come from animals and plants.
READ MORE: British daily meat consumption dropped 17% in a decade, study reveals
Tesco has also committed to quadrupling sales of vegan foods by 2025.
Food Foundation boss Anna Taylor said she was “increasingly concerned about the stark differences in regular and transparent reporting on sustainability”.
She continued: “Our food system… is in desperate need of change to ensure that the industry is doing its part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“We need all food businesses to start setting targets.”
The charity also encouraged investors to push retailers into reporting their “healthy and sustainable food sales”.
In June, trillion-dollar shareholder group FareShare cited a Food Foundation report when it demanded Morrisons bring in commitments for sales of health food.
The research claimed that “encouraging healthy diets” was Morrisons’ weakest area of 10 sustainability targets.
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