PETA sends letter to Alok Sharma at the UN proposing that the upcoming COP26 summit offers a meat-free, sustainable menu to its delegates.
Alok Sharma, the president of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), has been asked to serve a vegan menu to delegates by animal rights activists PETA to highlight the high carbon cost of producing meat.
In the letter, PETA notes that vegan catering would not only reduce the carbon footprint of the event but also its waste of water. It takes 15,415 litres of water to produce just one kilogram of beef, and that metric doesn’t even account for all the greenhouse gases that animal agriculture generates. Sharma, a member of the British cabinet, was given an alternative way to reduce the water impact of the conference – with PETA suggesting he stop showering until the event opens in Glasgow in November.
“Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year misery in squalid, crowded conditions on farms and a terrifying death at the abattoir.”
Kate Werner, a senior campaigns manager at PETA, said in the letter: “Given that the meat and dairy industries are a leading cause of the climate crisis that COP26 is seeking to address, removing these items from the catering menu seems like a no-brainer. By going vegan, delegates would all get to dine on delicious, Earth and animal friendly food – and go ahead and have your shower, too”.
A statement from PETA added: “Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year misery in squalid, crowded conditions on farms and a terrifying death at the abattoir.”
Original source: https://theecologist.org