I suspect many others similarly thought the number was referring to all emissions.12 One study found that converting to vegetarianism might reduce diet-related personal energy use by 16 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent but total personal energy use by just 2 percent, and total greenhouse gas emissions by 4 percent.13 As such, were IPCC’s “most extreme” scenario of global veganism to be realized—in which, by 2050, humans completely cease to consume animal products and all livestock land is reforested—total carbon emissions would decline by just 10 percent.14
