Paul McCartney condemns COP30 for serving meat: “Like handing out cigarettes at a cancer-prevention conference”
Paul McCartney has called upon COP30 to not serve meat at this year’s climate conference.
The latest COP30 summit begins today in Belém, Brazil, and will run until November 21st, with world leaders coming together to discuss ideas on how to tackle climate change.
McCartney, who is one of the world’s most notable animal rights activists and a vegetarian, has now penned an open letter on PETA’s behalf to COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago regarding the decision to serve meat at the event.
He began by writing, “I’m writing on behalf of my friends at PETA to ask you to align COP30’s menu with its mission by making it all vegetarian. This would greatly reduce its carbon footprint and overall environmental impact, setting a positive example for the world to follow.”
The Beatles legend then discussed the dangers of climate change in Brazil, noting, “It is fitting that COP30 will be held in Belem, the gateway to the Amazon, whose rainforest is often called ‘the lungs of the Earth’ because it absorbs and stores massive amounts of carbon dioxide while releasing oxygen.”
He continued, “Protecting the life-sustaining Amazon must be a top priority for environmentalists of all nationalities, so I was shocked to learn that only 40% of the food served at COP30 is currently slated to be vegetarian.”
McCartney then highlighted the irony of serving meat at an event regarding the future of climate change, adding, “Serving meat at a climate summit is like handing out cigarettes at a cancer-prevention conference! The animal agriculture industry is a top driver of deforestation and the climate catastrophe that is wreaking havoc on the planet.”
The singer-songwriter then stated that cattle ranching is responsible for 80 per cent of rainforest deforestation and “practice of cutting and burning the rainforest to make room for cattle farm”, along with climate change-induced dry conditions, “is causing the Amazon to burn at an alarming rate”.
He concluded by writing, “COP30’s own website confirms that plant-based meals have a substantially lower carbon footprint, so I urge you to lead by example and make the conference all vegetarian.”
McCartney has been a longtime supporter of PETA, a relationship which began in 1999, and he also teamed up with the charity in 2022 to call for the release of a tortured elephant in India, as well as supporting a variety of their campaigns.
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