Bijdrage plenaire verga­dering over een nieuwe inter­na­ti­onale klimaat­o­ver­een­komst in Parijs

Anja Hazekamp (PvdD): To maintain a liveable earth we have to halt climate change now. As one of the main culprits of climate change, Europe carries a great responsibility in achieving global binding agreements on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Regrettably, the report ‘Towards a new international climate agreement’ only contains one single paragraph on agriculture, whose impact on climate change cannot be overstated enough. Especially, the negative impact of meat production on climate change persists, and prospects for the future are grim. The world population is estimated to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. Diets are predicted to become more affluent, containing more meat and dairy products. This shift towards unsustainable diets will entail a tremendous, if not impossible burden on the planet’s resources.

There is a clear link between livestock farming and global warming. Meat and dairy production are responsible for at least 14% of all our greenhouse gas emissions. It would be negligent to not tackle this issue when fighting climate change – especially when we realise that people and animals in the poorer areas of the world will be affected first and the worst, owing to extreme weather conditions due to climate change.