There is a simple solution to quickly reducing the climate-damaging greenhouse gases from agriculture: everyone should stop eating meat and switch to a plant-based diet. A large amount of land that used to be used for animal feed would become free and could then be reforested. Since this is unlikely to happen any time soon and most people don’t want to go vegetarian, you have to think about second and third best options.
This includes, for example, genetically modified plants (GMO). If genetically modified sugar beets, rapeseed, maize, cotton and soybeans were to grow in the EU, CO₂ emissions could fall by 33 million tons, as a study has just calculated . That’s 16 times the effect of a much-discussed speed limit on German autobahns. You don’t have to share the arguments of the authors in every detail. They assume that increases in yields in Europe will automatically lead to less cultivation in rainforest areas, which is doubtful. The bottom line is that the statement that the use of genetic engineering can help to save emissions, fertilizers and pesticides is correct.
[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in German and has been translated and edited for clarity.]
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