In response to the recent election in the United States, the fate of how upcoming world leaders will tackle climate change has been thrown up in the air for debate by many. One celebrity, in particular, has taken to challenging the food industry by encouraging people to eat less meat.
Celebrity activist
As reported by the Dodo, teaming up with Chinese actress Li Bingbing and director James Cameron, who he collaborated for movies such as 'True Lies' and 'The Terminator' series, Austrian-American actor arnold schwarzenegger has joined WildAid, a charity whose mission it is to end illegal wildlife change and to "envision a world where people no longer buy wildlife products such as shark fin, elephant ivory and rhino horn".
Taking to social media site Facebook, Schwarzenegger posted a public service announcement, saying "People always ask, "what can we do about pollution?" One quick fix - eat less meat. I've cut back, so I know you can."
Meat and dairy production is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses. The total emissions from global livestock averages about 7.1 Gigatonnes of Co2-equivalent per year, which is 14.5 percent of all anthropogenic GHG emissions, and cattle feeding and processing comprise 65 percent of those emissions according to numbers published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
Schwarzenegger spoke out about climate change in 2014 in a documentary show on National Geographic entitled 'Years of Living Dangerously', which he produced and starred in.
Each episode focuses on celebrity investigators and environmental activists interviewing experts and ordinary workers who have been affected by climate change. During the project, he said about climate change, "if we really want to make a difference, everyone has to work together... Democrats, Republicans, every country, the military, everybody."
'You're a hero Arnold'
One Facebook comment said, "You're a hero Arnold.
I went vegan a few months ago and can still build lots of muscle in the gym (thank God for vegan protein shakes and legumes). Thanks for spreading a good message!!!" Another said, "I eat local, quality meat but have made a solid effort to incorporate more fish in my diet. Thanks for raising awareness and continuing to being awesome.
Wish you were the next President."
Joining the ranks of other actors who advocate environmental activism such as Jessica Alba and Leonardo DiCaprio, it still remains to be seen how this will affect the meat industry.
