Eating Beef Is Harmful For The Environment, Tells United Nations Environment Program

A majority of countries in the world is striving toward sustainable consumption to save planet Earth. With a number of reasons being attributed as the leading cause of climate change, a latest study put forward by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has dubbed beef as a "climate harmful meat."

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome believes that meat consumers, especially the beef consumers, pose a major threat to the global environment. The Economic Times reported that production of even one gram of meat for an average hamburger lead to release of 6.61 pounds carbon in the atmosphere.

Taking the statistics into account, the production of meat results in global warming more than the gas discharged into the atmosphere by the burning of transport fuel. Figures furnished by FAO in the study titled "Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options" show that livestock production result in 18 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions, while the transport sector contributes 15 percent of the emissions.

Therefore, experts believe that cutting the production of energy-intensive meat production will help reduce world's carbon footprint. The effect would be much more pronounced than decreasing or altogether eliminating the use of automobiles and fuels.

"This over consumption of meat is really killing many things (there has to be a campaign) that big meat consumers should stop that. At least try one day without meat," said Laurence Tubiana, the French Ambassador for the Paris Climate Change Negotiations scheduled to be held in December.

In terms of meat consumption, an average North American consumes around 322 grams of meat every day, while a Chinese who consumes around 160 grams of meat each day. On the other hand, an average Indian consumes only 12 grams of meat per day. That means, an average American has a 25 percent greater contribution of global warming than a non-vegetarian Indian.