Should You Stop Eating Meat to Save the Planet?
“If a billion people stop eating meat, it has a big impact,” was an idea floated at the WEF in Davos this year.
“If a billion people stop eating meat, I tell you, it has a big impact,” said Siemens chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe at last week's annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
“Not only does it have a big impact on the current food system, but it will also inspire innovation of food systems,” Mr. Hagemann Snabe continued during a panel discussion on “Mobilizing for Climate.”
“I predict we will have proteins not coming from meat in the future, they will probably taste even better,” he predicted. “They will be zero carbon and much healthier than the kind of food we eat today. That is the mission we need to get on.”
Not everyone agrees, of course.
“Don’t let vegetarian environmentalists shame you for eating meat,” declared Bjorn Lomborg for USA TODAY on July 25, 2019. “Go ahead, grill a burger. Going vegetarian can help our climate a little bit, but it’s an inefficient policy to try to push on people worldwide.”
“I’m a vegetarian myself for ethical reasons,” Lomborg admitted. “But the climate scientists’ barbecue prescription leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth — and it’s not just the vegetable spread.”