The production of meat acconts for about one fifth of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned that by 2050, meat production could be in the 456 million tonnes range, which would be double the numbers in 2001.
About 40 percent of German's calorie intake is from animal products.
"I recommend a return to Sunday roasts and an orientation on Mediterranean eating habits," Andreas Troge, the head of the federal environmental agency UBA, told the daily Berliner Zeitung.
He added that a reduction in meat consumption would also yield health benefits.
Research by the World Wildlife Fund found that a single kilogram of beef requires 16,000 litres of water, taking into account a three-year lifespan for a cow, the grain it eats in its lifetime, and the water it drinks.