Studies by Prof Andrew Knight from the University of Winchester show how plant-based diets lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and use less land and water. Food energy savings mean more people can be fed. His major study published in leading scientific journal PLOS ONE on 04 Oct. 2023 has demonstrated very large environmental benefits arising from nutritionally-sound vegan diets – for dogs and cats, as well as people.
After analysing pet food ingredients in detail, as well as food consumed by people, Veterinary Professor Andrew Knight calculated that the world’s dogs and cats consume around 9% of all land animals killed for food, or around 7 billion animals annually, as well as billions of fish and aquatic animals.
Prof Knight calculated that if all the world’s dogs went vegan, it would save more GHGs than all those emitted by the UK, land larger than Mexico, freshwater exceeding all renewable freshwater in Denmark, and would feed around 450 million additional people – more than the entire EU.
And if all the world’s people went vegan, it would save more GHGs than all those emitted by the entire EU, land larger than Russia – the world’s largest country, combined with India, freshwater exceeding all renewable freshwater in Cuba, and would feed around 5.3 billion additional people – two thirds of the Earth’s current population! See the worldwide reaction that these studies have generated here.
