Climate Conference Criticized for Serving Meat

Yesterday, the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil began its course, bringing political leaders, scientists, and activists together to devise sustainability initiatives that will decrease greenhouse gas emissions and waste. But an opinion piece from The Washington Post points out a major inconsistency between the conference’s goals and its behavior—the event will be serving meat, which has been named many times over as one of the largest contributors to global pollution and climate change. Authors Frances Kissling and Peter Singer critique the “green-washing” of organic meat—which can create even more methane than its factory-farmed counterpart—and argue that removing meat from the summit’s menu, with an accompanying public statement, would be the most effective means of iterating its agenda to improve sustainability, combat poverty, and increase environmental protection.