Macca advocates `meat-free days` to tackle climate change

London, June 15: Former `Beatle` Sir Paul McCartney has joined a campaign advocating `meat-free days` in order to tackle climate change.

McCartney, along with his daughters Stella and Mary, is behind the Meat Free Monday campaign that aims to persuade people to go veggie once a week to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the world`s livestock, which are among the biggest contributors to global warming. "We should care about climate change because if we don`t, we are going to leave our children and their children in a hell of a mess," a news daily quoted McCartney as saying. The McCartneys are also said to have received support on the issue from people from the fields of show business, science, business, and the environment. Another supporter, Sir David King, the Government`s former chief scientist, agrees with the campaign. "The carbon and water footprints associated with producing beef are about 20 times larger than maize production. Eating less meat will help the environment," he said. Vast swathes of the Amazon rainforest are being cut down to make way for cattle ranches and to grow soy for feed. Belching from cows emits vast amounts of methane, which has 21 times the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, meat is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than transport`s 13 percent. Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has suggested one vegetarian day a week. "Many of us feel helpless in the face of environmental challenges, and it can be hard to know how to sort through the advice about what we can do to make a meaningful contribution to a cleaner, more sustainable, healthier world," McCartney said. "Having one designated meat-free day a week is a meaningful change that everyone can make, that goes to the heart of several important political, environmental and ethical issues all at once," he added. McCartney, who has enlisted the support of George Harrison``s widow, Olivia, denied that he was using the environment to opportunistically support his vegetarianism. "We didn`t start this idea," he said. "It was suggested in a report by the United Nations, who are presumably non-vegetarian. It would be a lot easier to not do this but the link has been established by many scientists and authorities on the subject and it seems wrong to simply ignore it. The issue won`t go away," he added. ANI