‘It is time for a new law on ecocide to go alongside genocide and the other crimes against humanity,’ says Michael Mansfield QC
Eating meat could become illegal due to the ecological damage it does to the planet, a top British barrister has said.
Michael Mansfield QC believes the government should introduce tighter legislation to make activities which destroy the natural world illegal – and in the future this could even include banning the consumption of meat.
Michael Mansfield QC (pictured) believes the government should introduce tighter legislation to make activities which destroy the natural world illegal ( Getty )
“There are plenty of things that were once commonplace that are now illegal such as smoking inside,” said Mansfield, who will present his ideas at the Labour party conference on Monday.
“We know that the top 3,000 companies in the world are responsible for more than £1.5tn worth of damage to the environment with meat and dairy production high on the list. We know that because the UN has told us so.
“I think when we look at the damage eating meat is doing to the planet it is not preposterous to think that one day it will become illegal,” he said.
Currently 25 per cent of global emissions come from agriculture, with livestock contributing to 80 per cent of that.
Industrial agriculture relies on fossil fuels to create fertilisers and machinery to harvest crops and transport animals. Farmed animals also produce half of the world’s methane emissions. Research last year found that meat and dairy companies could overtake the oil industry as the world’s biggest polluters by 2050.
“It is time for a new law on ecocide to go alongside genocide and the other crimes against humanity,” (Michael Mansfield).
The top QC will be making a speech at the launch of the Vegan Now campaign at the Labour party conference where he will be sitting on a panel of experts debating the damaging effects of livestock farming on biodiversity and climate change.
Juliet Gellatley, director of animal rights group Viva!, who will also be on the panel, said: “Thirty years ago people didn’t bat an eyelid if you lit a cigarette in a pub or restaurant. But now society accepts smoking is harmful and totally unnecessary and so we legislated against it. The same could happen with eating meat.”
Experts behind the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found red meat had high greenhouse gas footprint because of the emissions livestock give out as well as the impact of land being cleared to grow crops for animal feed.
The report says we should be eating balanced diets with plant-based foods such as grains, vegetables and pulses, and animal-based food produced in sustainable systems.
My comment: 51% of all greenhouse gases emitted worldwide are caused by livestock farming – more than by total worldwide traffic …. A scary fact!
The problem seems so obvious and it would be so easy to solve: Minimize or completely eliminate the consumption of animal products. For this we need a strong campaign against meat consumption, as in the anti-smoking campaign.
Unfortunately, the problem is swept under the table, everything is twisted or downplayed, people are being manipulated, as the reality of climate control would not be accepted. No attempts are made, and if any at all, then the most absurd, and as always at the expense of the animals.
This goes to such perversions that a part of the flank is surgically removed from the cows and replaced by a glass plate just so that one can better observe the processes of methane production.
The fact that humankind’s “enjoyment” of animal products is more important than an intact climate is frightening evidence of the irresponsible and primitive thinking of our species.
My best regards to all, Venus
World Animals Voice 