The European Union faces strong criticism after a report revealed massive subsidies for foods that damage the climate. Experts urge the EU to implement a Plant-Based Action Plan to encourage sustainable diets and help farmers move away from meat and dairy.
Climate-harming foods, especially red meat, receive enormous support from EU subsidies, raising concerns about misuse of taxpayer money. Charity Foodrise released a report showing the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) directed far more funding to high-emission animal foods than to plant-based options in 2020. Animal-sourced foods received roughly 77 percent of total CAP subsidies, totaling €39 billion out of €51 billion spent that year.
Beef and lamb, consistently identified as the most climate-damaging foods, received around 580 times more subsidies than legumes such as lentils and beans. Dairy products gained an estimated 554 times more CAP funding than nuts and seeds. Overall, meat and dairy received more than ten times the subsidies allocated to fruit and vegetable production.
why meat and dairy have such a large carbon footprint
Animal-sourced foods generate 81 to 86 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from EU food production while supplying only 32 percent of calories and 64 percent of protein. Globally, food and agriculture produce about one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, second only to fossil fuel burning. A 100g serving of beef releases 15.5 kg CO2 equivalent, equal to driving 78.7 km, according to the carbon footprint calculator CO2 Everything.
The carbon footprint of animal agriculture has grown sharply due to industrial farming and the high number of animals. Greenpeace estimates that 60 percent of mammals on Earth are livestock, four percent are wild, and 36 percent are humans. Farmed poultry accounts for 70 percent of all birds.
Every livestock animal needs food and space, resulting in factory farms that confine animals and clear forests, grasslands, and wetlands. Investigations show Amazon deforestation is largely driven by demand for soya, which mainly feeds animals rather than humans. WWF reports almost 80 percent of the world’s soybean crop feeds livestock, and production has doubled in the last twenty years.
Animal agriculture also relies on artificial fertilizers and produces methane. Feeding crops to animals reduces efficiency: 100 calories of crops yield only 40 calories of milk, 12 calories of chicken, and three calories of beef, according to Compassion in World Farming. This process wastes water, crops, and energy that could feed humans directly.
EU subsidies under fire
Martin Bowman from Foodrise called the CAP system “scandalous.” He said EU taxpayers’ money heavily supports high-emission meat and dairy while European diets remain distorted. CAP now stands at a crossroads, giving policymakers a chance to promote plant-rich diets.
Bowman highlighted that shifting to plant-based agriculture could boost farmer incomes, reduce EU dependence on imports, curb climate change, and improve public health. Plant-based foods deserve a fairer share of CAP subsidies to compete equally. “The misuse of EU funds to promote meat and dairy contradicts EU health and climate goals and must end immediately,” he said.
Bowman urged EU leaders to launch a Plant-Based Action Plan. The plan would strengthen plant-based supply chains and provide funds to help farmers transition from livestock to crops. In 2024, the European Commission emphasized the importance of supporting consumers in adopting plant-based diets and recommended developing an EU Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods by 2026 to strengthen the supply chain from farmers to consumers.
