This article discusses the impact of meat consumption on global climate change, spurred by a comment by the head of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Rajendra Pachauri, a vegetarian himself, recommended a reduction in meat consumption to combat climate change.

In a 2006 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, 18% of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to animal farming. Much of the contribution comes from deforestation for pasture or land to grow animal feed. Animal farming accounts for nearly one-third of the earth’s land and animals generate nitrous oxide and methane, both of which significantly impact global warming.

In addition, as the world economy grows, so does global meat consumption; the average person in the industrialized world consumes more than 176 pounds of meat per year, compared with the average of 66 pounds consumed by a person in a “developing” country.