Climate plan urging plant-based diet shift deleted
A government research paper recommending people "shift dietary habits" towards plant-based foods has been hastily deleted.
The paper focuses on changing public behaviour to hit climate targets and also suggests promoting domestic tourism and portraying business travel as an "immoral indulgence".
It was deleted soon after publication by the Department for Business. Beis said the paper was academic research and not official policy.
"We have no plans whatsoever to dictate consumer behaviour in this way. For that reason, our Net Zero Strategy published yesterday contained no such plans," it said.
The Behavioural Insights Unit, also known as the Nudge Unit, wrote the document.
The unit is most known for its role in the design of the sugar levy and early comments on the pandemic "herd immunity" strategy. The document was swiftly deleted and has been replaced with a note saying it was published in error, but BBC News obtained a copy.
The document recognises that "asking people to directly eat less meat and dairy is a major political challenge", although a positive portrayal and "smaller asks" may be possible - for example, people learning one new recipe. When talking about flights, the paper suggests "much stronger carbon taxes".