Pope could help cut world's carbon emissions with call for return to meat-free Fridays

Pope Francis has previously called for "radical" responses to climate change. File picture: Guglielmo Mangiapane

The Pope could bring about a major reduction in global carbon emissions by urging Catholics to return to the traditional practice of not eating meat on a Friday, a study suggests.

Cambridge University researchers assessed the impact of a return, in 2011, to meat-free Fridays for Catholics in England and Wales.

While only around a quarter of Catholics in England and Wales changed their dietary habits, after bishops called on congregations to do so, this saved more than 55,000 tonnes of carbon a year, according to the study.

The research team say this is equivalent to 82,000 fewer people taking a return trip from London to New York over the course of a year.

They say that the environmental benefits could be scaled up if the Pope were to reinstate the obligation to Catholics around the world, or if bishops in other countries made the same call.

"For instance, even if only the US Catholic bishops were to follow suit, the benefits would likely be 20 times larger than in the UK," the study's authors wrote.

The obligation to forego meat on one day of the week, which has ancient origins and is backed by Canon Law, was re-established in England and Wales after a 26-year hiatus, according to the study.

The overall Catholic share of the British population has remained largely stable for decades at just under 10%, the researchers say. They added that the return to meat-free Fridays had "no discernible impact" on service attendance.

The current Catholic leader, Pope Francis, has called for "radical" responses to climate change.

The study's lead author Professor Shaun Larcom, from Cambridge's Department of Land Economy, said: "The Catholic Church is very well placed to help mitigate climate change, with more than one billion followers around the world."

Even if only a minority of Catholics complied, it would make a substantial difference, he said.