Climate Change and Meat Consumption — Eat Vegan
The UN's top climate scientist, chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, is suggesting that people should consider eating less meat as a way of combating global warming. The IPCC collates and evaluates climate data for the world's governments.
UN figures suggest that meat production puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than transport.
"The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that direct emissions from meat production account for about 18% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions," he told BBC News.
"So I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider."
Source: BBC News
According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, total global meat production contributes 18% of greenhouse gasses, while total global transportation contributes only 13% of greenhouse gasses. The largest source globally of carbon dioxide from meat production is land clearance, particularly of tropical forest.
According to Dr. Pachuri, people should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change, and should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further. -- Source The Guardian
Meat eating is expected to double by mid-century. This is such an easy and important step for us all to take. It's something Jane and I strongly believe in and have blogged about a number of times (see More Reasons Not to Eat Meat and Vegan Eating Trumps Eating Locally). I'm assuming most of the people who are reading this blog are vegans or are interested in veganism. But this is a message we can bring to our omivorous friends and family. Imagine the impact to the enviroment and the animals if everyone ate vegan just one day a week.
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5 comments
Alex on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at
Isn’t it funny how the evidence demands that we stop eating meat and dairy altogether, at least until we dramatically change the ways in which we turn animals into food. However, time after time, within the inner-sanctums of “new environmentalism” their prescription for action is tempered. In effect, the causes of this environmental degradation are given a tacit approval. Or at least agribusiness is said to be “Not that bad, really.” When in reality, this argument completely lacks veracity. Those who contribute to these reports know this - Al Gore know’s this - but they (and he) simply choose to not overcome the internal contradiction in their own arguments and findings.
If they are all vegans, it’s reasonable to believe that they’re making a consequentialist calculation: Saying “Go vegan” will turn people away, therefore, the suggestion is less dramatic for practical reasons or something. However, Gore isn’t, and most, indeed the vast majority of the environmentalists I know, are not vegan or vegetarian. They are, therefore, hypocrites; internally inconsistent given their own premises and findings.
Smite Me! [.net] » Blog Archive » Quote of the Day: 18% > 13% on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at
[...] (H/t, Vegan Bits.) [...]
Lane on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at
Hi Alex,
Yes, it’s really one of the more frustrating things we come up against. (And we keep blogging about our frustrations.) But you do make a point… most people we’ve talked to can’t conceive of the idea of giving up meat/dairy. It’s one of the reasons you’ll hear us frequently suggest that we of the vegan community, get others to eat vegan 1 day/week. Then they can see that it isn’t as difficult as they might have thought, and that some of this “vegan crap” is actually easy to prepare and tasty too.
As for Gore, I’m not as enamored with him as I used to be. I’ve recently read some things about all this carbon offset stuff. (He sells carbon offsets, and there are no regulatory bodies governing how much of that money goes where.) And then there’s the size of his house, and his travel. It’s hard to be a poster-boy for a cause if you’re not behaving as you would have others behave. I do like that he was brave enough to stand up for the environment, at the cost of his political aspirations.
Alex on Friday, September 12, 2008 at
Indeed, I have my issues with Gore, however, he has been passionate about environmentalism - warning us of the threats - since the early nineties. He has never wavered, although as you said, there are some rather problematic things about his lifestyle. My issue about eating meat really surrounds the entire environmentalist movement today.
Lane on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at
Hi Alex,
The disconnect is amazing isn’t it?