Combined carbon and health taxes outperform single-purpose information or fiscal measures in designing sustainable food policies

Faccioli, Michela; Law, Cherry; Caine, Catherine; Berger, N.; Yan, Xiaoyu; Weninger, Federico; Guell, Cornelia; Day, Brett; Smith, Richard; Bateman, Ian J.

doi:10.1038/s43016-022-00482-2

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…In the Netherlands, policymakers presented concrete proposals to implement a tax but so far have not been able to convince a majority in parliament 74 . In the UK, meat taxation was discussed, but despite being found to have a substantial potential impact on GHG emissions and public health 26 , it was explicitly disregarded from the National Food Strategy published in 2021 due to potential lack of acceptance among citizens 75 . The Danish Council of Ethics, a Danish think tank, recommended a tax on red meat for Denmark in 2016, which was refused by politicians 76 , 77 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The climate change and animal welfare debates are conducted rather independently of one another, although they concern the same industry and the same products. We therefore focus on these two aspects while acknowledging that there are other reasons to motivate meat taxation such as biodiversity loss, water pollution and health concerns 11 , 25 , 26 .…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Animal welfare is a stronger determinant of public support for meat taxation than climate change mitigation in Germany

Perino

Schwickert

2023

Nat Food

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A tax on meat could help address the climate impact and animal welfare issues associated with the production of meat. Through a referendum choice experiment with more than 2,800 German citizens, we elicited support for a tax on meat by varying the following tax attributes: level and differentiation thereof, justification and salience of behavioural effects. Only at the lowest tax level tested do all tax variants receive support from most voters. Support is generally stronger if the tax is justified by animal welfare rather than climate change mitigation. Differentiated taxes that link the tax rate to the harmfulness of the product do not receive higher support than a uniform tax; this indifference is not driven by a failure to anticipate the differential impacts on consumption. While the introduction of meat taxation remains politically challenging, our results underscore the need for policymakers to clearly communicate underlying reasons for the tax and its intended behavioural effect.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal welfare is a stronger determinant of public support for meat taxation than climate change mitigation in Germany

Perino

Schwickert

2023

Nat Food

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“…using category-specific limits, as this would promote products that are better for people and the planet, and allow accessible dietary variety across households from different socio-economic positions 54 . These analyses focused on the effects that food and beverage choices could have on reducing GHGe attributable to household product purchases and understanding the potential to optimize product choices based on environmental sustainability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Switches in food and beverage product purchases can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Australia

Gaines,

Shahid,

Coyle

et al. 2024

Nat Food

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Switching between similar food and beverage products may reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe). Here, using consumer data linked to 23,550 product-specific GHGe values, we estimated annual GHGe attributable to product purchases consumed at home in Australia and calculated reductions from specific switches. Potential changes to mean Health Star Rating, mean energy density and the proportion of ultraprocessed foods purchased were assessed. Approximately 31 million tonnes of GHGe were attributable to products consumed at home in 2019, the three highest contributors of GHGe being ‘meat and meat products’ (49%), ‘dairy’ (17%) and ‘non-alcoholic beverages’ (16%). Switching higher-emission products for ‘very similar’ lower-emission products could reduce total emissions by 26%. Switches to ‘less similar’ lower-emission products could lead to a 71% reduction. Switches had little impact on the average Health Star Rating, energy density of purchases and proportion of ultraprocessed foods purchased. Directing manufacturing and marketing towards lower-environmental-impact products and signposting such options to consumers are key.

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“…if domestic beef is replaced by imports produced through destruction of rainforests), then the resultant carbon leakage must be set against the gains generated by UK tree planting. However, carbon leakage relationships remain poorly quantified, vary with ongoing changes in diet and are a focus of ongoing research (Faccioli et al, 2022; Golub et al, 2013; Peña‐Lévano et al, 2019; Pfaff & Robalino, 2017).…”

Section: Natural Capital Principles For Planting ‘Net Zero Plus’ Wood...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of planting principles to identify the right place for the right tree for ‘net zero plus’ woodlands: Applying a place‐based natural capital framework for sustainable, efficient and equitable (SEE) decisions

et al. 2022

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Combined carbon and health taxes outperform single-purpose information or fiscal measures in designing sustainable food policies

Cited by 23 publications

References 44 publications

Animal welfare is a stronger determinant of public support for meat taxation than climate change mitigation in Germany

Animal welfare is a stronger determinant of public support for meat taxation than climate change mitigation in Germany

Switches in food and beverage product purchases can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Australia

A review of planting principles to identify the right place for the right tree for ‘net zero plus’ woodlands: Applying a place‐based natural capital framework for sustainable, efficient and equitable (SEE) decisions

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