Louise Gray

Why are COP26 delegates turning their noses up at haggis?

Bad for the planet? (Credit: Getty images)

As if negotiating a global climate deal into the early hours was not enough, delegates at COP26 have to worry about whether the haggis, neeps and tatties they enjoyed for lunch is destroying the planet. The COP26 menu tells delegates that each serving of the traditional Scottish dish generates 3.4kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). It is the heaviest carbon footprint on the COP menu, worse even than the Scottish beef burger (at 3.3kg CO2e).

Unsurprisingly, many climate-conscious delegates in Glasgow are turning their noses up at the Scottish national dish, and not just because they realised it was lamb offal. Perhaps they have good reason to be snobby? As an animal product, haggis takes energy to produce, which is typically generated from fossil fuels. What’s more, sheep are ruminant animals: they burp out methane, which is another greenhouse gas. But is that the whole story? 

Many climate-conscious delegates in Glasgow are turning their noses up at the Scottish national dish

Haggis is essentially a by-product, made from a part of the animal that would otherwise go to waste. So isn’t this nose-to-tail approach to eating, practiced for centuries by frugal Scots, exactly the kind of thing we should be doing to save the planet? And if an animal is going to die, surely it makes sense that the whole carcass should be used? Offal is not only highly nutritious but avoids waste. In 2019, a German study found that eating offal could cut emissions from meat because fewer animals would need to be reared overall while still providing nutrition. 

But if haggis is bad, then what is a good option for delegates? Perhaps the best meat item on the COP menu is from wild deer. The venison casserole dished up at COP is 1.7kg CO2e and the venison sausage roll is 0.7kg CO2e. If

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