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Abstract

Food consumption generates substantial environmental externalities that remain insufficiently addressed by public policies. Here we explore the global environmental footprints induced by food consumption in the European Union (EU27) based on a multi-regional input–output model, and assess the potential of tax policies for mitigation. Using household expenditure data, we estimate country-specific demand systems for food products and link these to the footprints for the policy analysis. We find that removing current VAT reductions on meat products has the potential to decrease food consumption-related greenhouse-gas emissions, water consumption, land use, biodiversity loss, and the nitrogen and phosphorus footprints of EU27 household food consumption by 3.5%–5.7%. A greenhouse-gas emission price of ~€52 per tCO2e on all food products leads to equivalent emission reductions with higher associated environmental co-benefits. The mean net welfare costs of the two policies amount to €12–26 per year per household.