Dr Rajendra Pachauri (Chairman of UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change):
If
you look at the impacts of climate change on water, on human health, on
agriculture, on ecosystems, we really are getting into a zone where
these impacts are going to become very serious, even with a 1 to 1.5
degree increase in temperature.
So we really don't have a moment to lose and I think if the world wants to stabilize the Earth's climate
and therefore minimize or eliminate the threat of harmful impacts, then we have to move very quickly.
SupremeMasterTV Reporter:
As the chairman of the IPCC, is there any advice that you would like to
give to leaders and governments around the world regarding the huge
amount of carbon emissions produced by the animal agriculture industry
and what action we should be taking in regarding this?
Dr Rajendra Pachauri (Chairman of UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change): The entire meat cycle is very, very intensive, in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.
Right
from the moment you cleared forests as pasture land, you have cattle
grazing over there then cattle are killed and then refrigerated.
If you look at some of the estimates, that really seems staggering. But more than anything else I think it's a win-win solution to eat less meat.
There
is enough medical evidence, that the levels of consumption of meat that
we have in the world today on a per capita basis, particularly in
societies where that's a very large part of the diet, it's something
that's even harmful for human health. And therefore if you turn to
eating less meat
then as I said, individuals would be healthy and so would the planet!
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
The main cause of the danger to our survival right now is caused from
meat diet.The more we stick to the meat diet, the more we need oil and
other fuel, resulting in even more shortage in all necessities.
So I suggest only one thing: just to go veg. Be vegetarian. Choose a vegetarian diet. Then all will cool down.
All disasters will disappear.We will see how simple and happy life can
be, and how we will think clearly, and how our heart will be more open,
more blissful. We can understand many more things than we have up to
now. And that, we really can live with much far less than what we
thought ossible, and still be happy, survive, satisfied, and healthy.