Save water

Cutting out meat will save water

• Over 1 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water and more than double do not have proper sanitation.
• By 2025 there will be 1.8 billion people living with absolute water scarcity.
• Farming accounts for around 70% of all freshwater withdrawn from lakes, waterways and aquifers.
• Meat production, especially the feeding of cattle, is a particularly water-intensive process.
• Livestock production accounts for over 8% of global human water consumption.
• Estimates of the water required to produce a kilo of beef vary, from 13,000 litres up to 100,000 litres. The water required to produce a kilo of wheat is somewhere between 1,000-2,000 litres.
• Agricultural products account for 73% of the total water footprint.

Find out more in our fully referenced fact sheets