Roger Harrabin who is a Environment Analyst from Geneva and works for the BBC published an article approximately five hours ago which actively promotes a plant-based diet in order to fight climate change.
This may possibly be the first time ever that we have see an article in which the BBC promote a plant-based diet in such a direct way.
The news article titled ‘Plant-based diet can fight climate change ‘ was posted after UN experts published a document which was produced by 107 scientists that work for the UN IPCC which is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The scientists said that the high consumption of meat that the West countries have as well as the dairy produce is having a huge affect in fuelling global warming.
The report also states that if western countries better manage their land then it can store more carbon than it currently does. At current 2019 is set to be in the top three warmed years we have ever had in the 20th century.
Whilst they state that they are not telling people to stop eating meat, they are saying that the west is consuming too much, Pete Smith who is a environment scientist at Aberdeen University said.
The detailed report also asks for immediate action to halt damage to soil as well as desertification which is where often fertile land becomes desert as a result of deforestation and unnecessary agriculture.
Some governments plans to tackle deforestation and burning of fossil fuels was to grow and burn trees to generate electricity however this report debunks this stating that if this is not done on a limited scale it will just compete with the food production in emissions.
The BBC tells their viewers that ‘we’ are reshaping the earth in dramatic ways especially in the greenhouse gases that we release into our atmosphere on a daily basis.
In order to inform their readers about the huge impact that our meat industry has on our emissions they provided a chart which lists the impact that food can have on the earth.
As you can see approximately 26% of global emissions come from the food we eat with 58% of that being from animal products and 50% of that being beef or lamb.
We need news organisations like the BBC to help promote a plant-based diet for all.
Beef is known for its incredibly high methane emissions due to the cattle’s methanogenic microorganisms producing it at extremely fast rates.
Take a sheep for example, sheep are able to produce approximately 30 litres of methane each day! Then if you compare that to a dairy cow who can produce up to about 200 litres! It needs to be reduced dramatically if we stand a chance at slowing down or reversing global warming.
A reduction in meat consumption is essential if we are to meet climate targets
The issue is that in some countries like China meat consumption especially beef is actually on the rise even though the government is trying to push people towards a traditional diet.
These reports are being produced so that people who eat meat especially lamb and beef can see just how much their diets are affecting the environment that we live in before its too late.
Most people don’t know the extend that beef can have on global warming and therefore don’t see the need for change but with important research and reports such as this we can show them the facts.
When you hear that the BBC promote a plant-based diet it makes you really see that times are finally starting to change and veganism is gaining huge momentum. I remember just a few years ago when my 82 year old mum who watches the BBC news every night couldn’t help herself but agree with the BBC when they showcased stories about veganism in a bad light and now she couldn’t be more on-board!
Unfortunately with people like Donald Trump trying to make the world think that climate change doesn’t exist we need all the proof we can from scientists and environmental organisations to fight back and raise awareness about these issues so that we can tackle them head on.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog post then don’t forget to check out our other categories such as videos, events, fashion and beauty, activism, travel, interviews and more.
