A new report has revealed the incredible extent to which cancer rates, heart disease, agriculture and carbon emissions would benefit if everyone went vegan. 

The Veganism Impact Report uses verified statistics on animal product consumption, employment, trade, health, environment and economy. 

Carbon emissions

It found that greenhouse gas emissions from food totalled 13.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2018.

The study estimates if everyone was vegan this would be reduced by 9.6 billion to 4,110,000,000 tonnes of CO2 annually – representing a 70% decrease.

Heart disease

152,405 people in the UK died from heart and circulatory disease in 2017.

The report estimates only 22,861 people in the UK would die each year if we were all vegan, resulting in 129,544 fewer deaths annually.

Agriculture

Researchers explain that 1.5 billion hectares of the world’s total land surface (13.4 billion hectares) was used for agriculture in 2018.

But if everyone’s diets were strictly plant-based, just 540,000,000 hectares of the world’s land surface would be used for agriculture.

Cancer

Finally, the study looks at the link between meat eating and cancer.

There are 8,800 cases of cancer linked to eating processed or red meat each year, meaning if everyone was vegan we could expect 8,800 lives to be saved if everyone was vegan.

Data

UK statistics in the study are based on 1.16% of the population being vegan, and do not take into account the vegetarian or pescatarian population. 

EU statistics are based on data that 5.9% of the population are vegan and vegetarian.

Stats are gathered from associated sources including NHS, Macmillan, Office for National Statistics, Europa and the RSPCA.

What do you think of this study? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Oli Gross

Oli’s career and personal ethical values both help shape his reporting of the diverse world of veganism. His background is in local newspaper and magazine journalism, and his work has included reporting court cases, celebrity interviews, business analysis, food and drink features and government legislation.

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