Jan 17 2009
IPCC Chairman Says Eating Less Meat Mitigates Climate Change
On September 7, 2008 The Observer newspaper in the United Kingdom came out with a very startling news: UN says eat less meat to curb global warming. There’s no ambiguity about it. And the message came from the Chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri. In 2007, the IPCC was co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice President Al Gore who was honored for his Inconvenient Truth presentation.
Dr. Rajendra Pachauri
Dr. Pachauri recommended that everyone should have “one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change…” He reasoned that it is a lot easier and quicker if we change our eating habits than to change the means of transport:
“In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions in a short period of time, it clearly is the most attractive opportunity,” said Pachauri. “Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there,” said the Indian economist, who is a vegetarian.
At least he walks the talk, since he himself is also a vegetarian. In an interview with Supreme Master Television , Dr. Pachauri shared that he wasn’t always a vegetarian until he realized the detrimental environmental impact of the raising of livestock for human consumption.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are generated during the production of animal feeds, for example, while ruminants, particularly cows, emit methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide. The agency has also warned that meat consumption is set to double by the middle of the century.
Image from Climate Change Action
Aside from the dangerously high levels of greenhouse gases released in the atmosphere due to factory farms, there’s also the destruction of habitats and the clearing of forests for grazing. Thousands of acres in the Amazon had been destroyed for this reason.
The Amazon forest. Source: http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm
The clearing of forests also have other ramifications. According to Jocelyn Stock Andy Rochen:
“To understand why deforestation is such a pressing and urgent issue, forests must first be given credit for what they bring to global ecosystems and the quality of life that all species maintain. Tropical Rainforests presently give a place to call home for 50% - 90% of all organisms, 90% of our relatives, the primates, and 50 million creatures that can live no place but the rich rainforests (World Rainforest Movement 16). Not only are other species at risk, but the human race also benefits from what the trees give. From something as minor as the spices that indulge food to life giving medicines, the rainforests amplify and save lives.”
In short, we’re pretty much shooting ourselves in the foot by the way we disregard nature and the environment. 500,000 hectares vanished in a single week. At the rate we’re going, there may not be too many forests left.
Aside from stressing the importance of the vegetarian diet to help curb climate change, Dr. Pachauri also mentioned that we include other lifestyle changes, “That’s what I want to emphasise: we really have to bring about reductions in every sector of the economy.” In fact, this information was already made public in November 2006 by the United Nations:
29 November 2006 - Cattle-rearing generates more global warming greenhouse gases, as measured in CO2 equivalent, than transportation, and smarter production methods, including improved animal diets to reduce enteric fermentation and consequent methane emissions, are urgently needed, according to a new United Nations report released today.
“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems,” senior UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official Henning Steinfeld said. “Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”
That was two years ago. The time to act is now.
