Consumer-sized solutions can help the climate and build up the local economy. A homegrown plant-based burger might just be one of those solutions.

By Xische Editorial, October 6, 2021

It’s been a bad year for the climate. The planet is getting warmer as carbon emissions continue to flood our atmosphere. While there have been remarkable efforts, such as the push to renewable energy, the whole debate feels dire. But that’s not what we are going to explore in this piece. We will think constructively about how the UAE can transform its agricultural technology sector to positively affect the climate and help the planet. That’s right; we are going to talk about fake meat. 

Everyone should have access to whatever they want to eat, but we need to face the fact. The global animal agricultural sector contributes more CO2 emissions than international air travel. You read that right. We need to think constructively about limiting our consumption of animal products to affect the environment positively. And one of the keys is a greater embrace of plant-based and lab-grown meats.

The good news is that the UAE is already leading the region in the number of plant-based options on menus around the country. There has been an apparent consumer demand for these products, and now the UAE ranks high on surveys of plant-based friendly countries in the world. But the more profound impact could take place in the country’s agricultural and manufacturing sector. The leading plant-based and lab-grown meat companies essentially operate as technology startups. They approach challenges like tech companies and generally go through the same process of raising capital. 

They also attract some of the best talent out there. “My first and truly sincere comment,” Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown told The Verge, ‘is that this is a field that attracts really great and talented people, far more talented than myself. We have them here and Impossible has some too, working on all the right problems in the world.”

The UAE, and Abu Dhabi specifically, has been investing heavily in agricultural technology as a vital part of the country’s knowledge economy. Not only does this investment help establish local food security, but it will potentially create the next unicorn in agtech. If we think about the UAE investing in a local plant-based meat startup, several exciting possibilities appear. 

First of all, any cutting edge product would have an easy path to international success. The plant-based meat sector is heating up fast because of rising consumer demand. “From a nutritional standpoint, our products match the protein quality and content of the animal products that they replace,” Impossible Foods CEO Patrick Brown told CNBC last year.  “ours is a clear winner from a health and nutrition standpoint. This is why I think people are increasingly aware that plant-based products are going to completely replace animal-based products in the food world within the next 15 years. That transformation is inevitable.”

Indeed, the transformation has already begun. There is another benefit to the local economy by embracing this sector, and that’s manufacturing. The UAE has worked tirelessly to increase the capacity of its manufacturing sector as a measure of diversifying the economy. While it’s difficult to compete with the likes of India and China for consumer commodities, the production of plant-based products perfectly suits the existing capacity. Moreover, the UAE’s close trade relationship with Europe and the rest of the region means ample market opportunities to explore. 

The problem of climate change is so big that it can be hard to think there is a solution. But there are small solutions that can help the climate and build up the local economy. A homegrown plant-based burger might just be one of those solutions.