Sir Keir Starmer said the battle to tackle climate change “does not mean telling people how to run their lives” after experts suggested cutting meat consumption by the equivalent of two kebabs a week.
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To cut emissions from meat and dairy production – and free up land for tree planting to absorb carbon – experts believe people would have to eat 25% less meat by 2040 compared with 2019 levels and reduce dairy by 20%.
The Prime Minister said the commitment to reaching net zero emissions was “important for the next generation” but telling people how to live their lives was “not the right way to go about it”.
The Climate Change Committee said there was already a gradual trend towards lower meat consumption in the UK, but the reduction would have to go further to help meet emissions targets.
The committee’s Emily Nurse said: “If you think about the average amount of meat that a person eats in the UK, if that were all converted to doner kebabs – and I’m not saying that all anyone eats in the UK is doner kebabs, this is just to visualise – then the average amount would be around eight a week.
“And in our pathway, we’re saying by 2040 that would be six.”
But the Prime Minister told journalists: “I’m not in the business of telling people how they should run their lives.
“I am absolutely clear that we are going to get to clean power and absolutely keep our commitment to net zero because it is so important for the next generation and generations to come.
“That does not mean telling people how to run their lives. That is not the right way to go about it.”
Sir Keir does not eat meat and used to be a vegetarian but is now a pescatarian, also eating fish.