Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, last week announced that one of the best ways of tackling climate change was for carnivores to reduce their meat intake.
Pachauri noted 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.
Unfortunately, statistics for meat consumption in Ireland are not available but surely there is a paralell between figures here and in the UK. These figures are rather shocking. Britons eat an average of 82g of protein a day, of which about 50g is from meat - equivalent to a chicken breast and a lamb chop. The figure is relatively low for a developed country, but higher than developing nations and 25-50 per cent above the World Health Organisation recommendation. This adds up, for the UK, to a total of more than 1m tonnes of beef, 1.3m tonnes of pork and bacon, 1.8m tonnes of poultry, nearly 400,000 tonnes of lamb and mutton, plus 13m tonnes of milk, cheese and other dairy products eaten every year.
Earlier this year, the Vegetarian Society claimed livestock generate nearly one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than transport. However, there is disagreement on the benefits of giving up meat: the figures, measured in 'carbon dioxide equivalent' to allow comparison of different greenhouse gases, range from a difference of 0.4 tonnes between a diet high in meat and vegetarian diets, to several times that figure, said Dave Hampton, a carbon reduction expert.
I have to admit that Dr. Pachauri's report shocked me - I had always been vaguely aware that methane contributed to global warming but never really made the association between climate change and the lovely bit of beef on my plate.
As somebody who is interested in the environment, I always feel guilty about certain lifestyle choices that I make - flying, my car. It seems time that I tried to balance everything a little bit more. It seems as if I don't really practice what I preach....
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