Steak should be subject to an extra 40 per cent tax to cut greenhouse gas emissions and save lives by reducing consumption of red meat, a study recommends.
Taxing food according to the emissions from its production would reduce greenhouse gases by more than is currently produced by global aviation, the University of Oxford research found.
The new green tax could also prevent half a million deaths a year globally from chronic diseases linked to overeating meat and dairy products.
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The researchers calculated the emissions generated by the production of different foods and the impact those emissions would have on climate change.
They found that beef would have to be 40 per cent more expensive to pay for the climate damage caused by its production.