Generous : Go Veggie... Just For One Day

Go Veggie... Just For One Day

09 Sep 2008 by Martin Wroe

Want to make a personal and effective sacrifice to help tackle climate change ? The UN’s expert has the answer – one that we’ve been promoting on Generous for a while. Go vegetarian one day a week. And after that, go vegetarian for a second day.

Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told The Observer that diet change was important because of the huge greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems – including habitat destruction – associated with rearing cattle and other animals. It was relatively easy to change eating habits compared to changing means of transport, he said.

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.

‘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.

However, he also stressed other changes in lifestyle would help to combat climate change. ’That’s what I want to emphasise: we really have to bring about reductions in every sector of the economy.’

Pachauri is in Britain to speak at an event hosted by animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming, which has calculated that if the average UK household halved meat consumption that would cut emissions more than if car use was cut in half.

The group has called for governments to lead campaigns to reduce meat consumption by 60 per cent by 2020. Campaigners have also pointed out the health benefits of eating less meat. The average person in the UK eats 50g of protein from meat a day, equivalent to a chicken breast and a lamb chop – a relatively low level for rich nations but 25-50 per cent more than World Heath Organisation guidelines.

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The photo that accompanies this story is taken from here