Alternative proteins are likely essential for biodiversity conservation
Abstract
Animal-sourced foods play a major role in four of the five greatest drivers of biodiversity loss, and the conservation community must do more to address the threats that animal-sourced foods pose. While a variety of tools can help address the problems posed by animal-sourced foods, conservation must prioritize strategies that enable sustainability gains at scale to achieve global consensus goals relating to ecosystem, climate, and species protection in the coming decades. We compare three major strategies—conventional diet change away from animal-sourced foods, reform of existing animal production systems (e.g., feed additives, regenerative grazing), and alternative proteins as a disruptive technology—on their potential for reducing the impacts of our food system at scale. Building on life cycle analyses and studies of other low-carbon technologies, we conclude alternative proteins likely offer a singular opportunity to achieve the level of disruption and transformation in food that solar panels and electric vehicles are achieving in energy and transportation. We also outline the role that the conservation community can play in generating government financing for and public acceptance of alternative proteins, ensuring alternative proteins continue to be sustainable, and fostering a socially just transition for communities who currently produce animal-sourced foods for their livelihoods.
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BibTeX
@misc{sekar2026alternative,
title = {{Alternative proteins are likely essential for biodiversity conservation}},
author = {Nitin Sekar and Alex Dehgan and Paul Bunje and Cleo Verkuijl and Shayna Fertig and Kavya Jain and Jeremy Radachowsky and Glenn Hurowtiz and Christopher A Jordan and Wes Sechrest and David Goodman and Eric Dinerstein},
howpublished = {EcoEvoRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.32942/x2g109},
url = {https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/14959/},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Alternative proteins are likely essential for biodiversity conservation
AU - Nitin Sekar
AU - Alex Dehgan
AU - Paul Bunje
AU - Cleo Verkuijl
AU - Shayna Fertig
AU - Kavya Jain
AU - Jeremy Radachowsky
AU - Glenn Hurowtiz
AU - Christopher A Jordan
AU - Wes Sechrest
AU - David Goodman
AU - Eric Dinerstein
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/14
PB - EcoEvoRxiv
DO - 10.32942/x2g109
UR - https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/14959/
AB - Animal-sourced foods play a major role in four of the five greatest drivers of biodiversity loss, and the conservation community must do more to address the threats that animal-sourced foods pose. While a variety of tools can help address the problems posed by animal-sourced foods, conservation must prioritize strategies that enable sustainability gains at scale to achieve global consensus goals relating to ecosystem, climate, and species protection in the coming decades. We compare three major strategies—conventional diet change away from animal-sourced foods, reform of existing animal production systems (e.g., feed additives, regenerative grazing), and alternative proteins as a disruptive technology—on their potential for reducing the impacts of our food system at scale. Building on life cycle analyses and studies of other low-carbon technologies, we conclude alternative proteins likely offer a singular opportunity to achieve the level of disruption and transformation in food that solar panels and electric vehicles are achieving in energy and transportation. We also outline the role that the conservation community can play in generating government financing for and public acceptance of alternative proteins, ensuring alternative proteins continue to be sustainable, and fostering a socially just transition for communities who currently produce animal-sourced foods for their livelihoods.
ER -