Eating meat 'affects climate change' - 28/10/09

People should eat a vegetarian diet in a bid to beat global warming, according to leading expert on climate change Nicholas Stern.

The author of an influential 2006 climate change review said "enormous pressure" is being put on the world by methane emissions from cows and pigs.

And he urged people to consider switching to a vegetarian diet to combat this.

Mr Stern told the Times that "meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases".

The former World Bank chief economist was speaking ahead of the climate change conference in Copenhagen this December, which is expected to be attended by thousands of delegates from around the world.

Lord Stern said a successful conference would result in higher costs for meat and other foods that generate large quantities of greenhouse gases.

He also compared his stance on meat to the change in attitudes to drink-driving.

"I think it's important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating," the London School of Economics professor said.

"I am 61 now and attitudes towards drinking and driving have changed radically since I was a student.

"People change their notion of what is responsible. They will increasingly ask about the carbon content of their food."

Methane is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, and it has been estimated that livestock accounts for a fifth of the global warming impact.

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