Consume less meat, says Pope Francis

At the European Youth Conference, held this week in Prague, Pope Francis urged young people to “consume less meat” in order to tackle the climate crisis. 

The Pope attempted to invoke “dignity and sobriety” in his attending crowds by presenting meat as a luxury item and our voracious consumption of it in certain parts of the world as an environmental problem. Amongst his messages for a better future, Pope Francis also addressed the “futility of war” and stressed the importance of female leadership roles, as reported by plantbasednews.org. 

The Pope’s call for reduced meat consumption is particularly poignant given his Argentinian heritage. Argentina has one of the highest meat consumptions in Latin America and is a leading producer of beef globally. 

A recent report carried out by Boston Consulting Group supports the Pope’s appeal to eat less meat by pointing out that Animal agriculture is the largest GHG emissions producer and constitutes 15% of global emissions, as reported by vegnews.com Various plant-based proteins have been suggested as an alternative which could significantly reduce emissions by 2035. 

Despite the Pope’s call for plant-based progress, he himself failed to give up meat for lent in 2019, despite being urged by Million Dollar Vegan organisation, and to promote a vegetarian Easter feast for observers of the religious holiday during 2021. 

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