Families would have to cut back on meat and dairy to meet stringent new climate targets imposed by Ed Miliband.
The Energy Secretary has signed up to a legally binding goal to cut UK carbon emissions by 87 per cent by 2040.
To achieve that, households will need to replace boilers with heat pumps, shift to electric cars and eat 25 per cent less meat and a fifth less dairy, Government advisers say.
The target – recommended by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) – is one of the world’s most ambitious.
While Labour is yet to say how it will meet such a goal, it will restrict what future governments can do.
The CCC has previously advised there should be no expansion to Heathrow Airport because it would breach previous Carbon Budgets, five-year caps on greenhouse gas emissions set under the Climate Change Act 2008.
Mr Miliband, who was pictured in 2014 struggling to maintain his dignity while tucking into a bacon sandwich, has adopted the recommendation for the latest such budget despite Britain being responsible for less than one per cent of global emissions.
The agreement also comes despite a major backlash to Net Zero policies by the Tories and Reform UK who promise to abolish targets if they win power.
The CCC sets out a ‘pathway’ which details its recommendations to Government to meet the target which foresees families consuming less meat and dairy.
Ed Miliband struggles with a bacon sandwich at London’s New Covent Garden flower market in 2014
Should the government have the power to tell us what we can eat to fight climate change?
Meat consumption would have to decline by a quarter by 2040 relative to 2019 levels, while dairy would have to fall by 20 per cent.
Achieving this would require going beyond existing trends, it said, meaning the Government would have to persuade families to cut down.
More families would need to switch to electric cars and replace boilers with heat pumps, which they say would result in lower bills – despite the current prohibitive set-up costs.
However, the CCC said that families will still be able to fly at close to today’s levels.
The pledge to cut greenhouse gases by 87 per cent on 1990 levels is seen as vital to reaching Net Zero by 2050 – a target the Tories and Reform have pledged to scrap.
A Labour source said: ‘This is a fight we’re happy to have, and the politics is strong for Labour.
‘Business wants certainty, public polling remains strong on climate action and long-term benefits outweigh any costs.
‘Fundamentally, this is about energy security, investment and Britain’s future competitiveness.’
The CCC’s so-called seventh Carbon Budget for 2038-42 sets a legally binding cap on emissions for a period of five years.
Legislation is expected imminently and a parliamentary vote is due to be held before the end of the month.
But there are concerns that it will be a straitjacket, binding the hands of subsequent governments.
Tory energy spokesman Claire Coutinho said that the targets would make households ‘weaker, poorer’ and increase bills.
‘The fact that in the dying days of this Labour government they will attempt to force through a new Net Zero target that will make us weaker, poorer and send everyone’s energy bills even higher shows they are not putting the national interest first,’ she said.
