December 12, 2024

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New data reveals huge funding gap for alt protein R&D despite its massive climate mitigation potential, new grants awarded to boost innovation

Nonprofit awards scientists $5 million to address the funding gap and accelerate the science of alt protein — a climate solution that can cut emissions and help meet the Paris climate target.

WASHINGTON — As scientists call for rapid changes to decarbonize the food system, alternative proteins have been recognized as a powerful and scalable solution. They cause up to 92% less global warming than conventional meat production,* which is responsible for 57% of the 34% of adverse climate impact attributable to the current food system. These reductions are essential to keeping global warming below 1.5 C relative to pre-industrial levels. Despite this, government funding for open-access alternative protein research and development (R&D) is almost nonexistent compared with funding for other climate solutions, leaving nonprofits and the private sector to fund critical gaps in order to bring alternative meat to market at scale. 

New data released today by The Good Food Institute (GFI) reveals that public investment for alternative protein R&D was just $55 million in 2020, which brings the all-time public investment total to $112 million. By comparison, public investment for clean energy R&D was $27 billion in 2020, which is 490 times the public investment for alternative protein R&D in 2020 and 241 times the total public funds ever invested in the space. 

This glaring funding gap is out of step with alternative proteins’ climate mitigation potential when compared with that of clean energy. Current global food production’s environmental impact is so detrimental that if fossil fuel emissions were halted immediately, meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 C target would still be impossible due to global protein production alone.

While consumer interest hit record levels in 2020, alternative protein market share will remain just a fraction of the overall meat market unless governments fund basic R&D as they’ve done for other climate-forward innovations. In 2020, plant-based meat market share accounted for just 1.4% of U.S. retail meat sales and even less globally. By comparison, clean energy supplied 26.2% of global energy production in 2020. Commensurate public investment for alternative protein R&D is needed to achieve meaningful market share and rapidly scale production to the extent necessary to drive down emissions. 

Private investments in alternative proteins reached $3.1 billion in 2020, and yet public investment in the same year was barely 1% of that, which is minuscule and disproportionate to the climate solution alternative proteins offer. Today, the influx of public dollars into clean energy technologies is helping the sector achieve efficiencies, lower costs, and increase accessibility and affordability. Increased public investment in alternative protein R&D can have a similar effect, achieving synergies with private R&D that can significantly accelerate scientific and social progress.

GFI awards scientists $5 million to fill gaps in alt protein R&D

To address the public investment shortfall, catalyze scientific discovery, and build a strong open-access research environment to foster alternative protein innovation, GFI has today announced the winners of its annual grant program, awarding $5 million in funds to be divided among 22 projects — 13 working to develop cultivated meat, seven focusing on plant-based meat, and two dedicated to fermentation-derived protein. Each project will receive up to $250,000 over two years and will address the scientific barriers to producing thick, structured, three-dimensional alternative protein products that can help companies break into the vast whole-cut meat category.

The grants announced today bring GFI’s total funding for open-access alternative meat research to more than $13 million since 2019. This funding has enabled 70 open-access research initiatives, which include the largest-ever contribution to open-access cultivated meat research. The grantees include leading scientists from 16 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, India, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

GFI grantees have made significant progress in their research over the past three years, with five projects successfully completed in 2021. See key research updates below or here.

GFI is calling on governments around the world to invest proportionally in alternative proteins as a key climate solution that simultaneously addresses the increasing risk of pandemics, antibiotic resistance, and food insecurity. This includes advocating that $2 billion in U.S. federal funds be directed to alternative protein R&D. 

GFI grantee Dr. David McClements, University of Massachusetts: “There is an urgent need for increased federal funding directed towards the development of the next generation of alternative proteins. The development of nutritious and sustainable meat, seafood, milk, and egg analogs that can help address the rise in diet-related chronic diseases and adverse effects of global warming requires a fundamental understanding of the science behind these compositionally and structurally complex materials. Improved knowledge in this area would enable the industry to create higher-quality products that consumers could easily incorporate into their existing diets, thereby facilitating the transition to a healthier and more sustainable food supply.”

GFI Associate Director of Science and Technology Erin Rees Clayton: “The full potential of alternative proteins to drive down emissions depends heavily on continued research to answer the many remaining fundamental questions. We must invest in research and development now. Addressing the biggest scientific white spaces by building a robust foundation of open-access data will enable the entire sector to advance more efficiently.”

GFI Founder and President Bruce Friedrich: “Cutting emissions from food production is crucial to limiting climate change, and alternative proteins are the sleeper solution to creating the rapid change we need to meet this moment. Alternative proteins are the one food-based climate solution that scales and, with government support, can decarbonize global food production. Governments should invest significantly and now in alternative proteins as a key part of climate strategy that simultaneously addresses the increasing risk of pandemics, antibiotic resistance, and food insecurity.”

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