A new report from Solution for Our Climate reveals that meat consumption in South Korea generated approximately 56.94 million tons of CO2 equivalent in 2024. On a per capita basis, the annual carbon cost of the average Korean diet is equivalent to over 10 round-trip flights between Seoul and Jeju Island. The study highlights that beef is the primary driver of these emissions, producing significantly more greenhouse gases than pork or chicken. The findings suggest that South Korea's meat-heavy diet is more carbon-intensive than similar patterns in China and Japan, prompting calls for a standardized national life-cycle database for livestock products.
