Meat Free Monday In Hong Kong

We urge the Hong Kong government, especially the Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Secretary for the Environment - Mr. Edward Yau Tang-wah, JP as well as other environmental and animal rights organizations

We are currently facing unprecedented global warming that is widely reported in the media. Natural disasters have emerged one after another and affected many counties which are suffering from different degrees of economic losses and even human lives. Governments are considering different measures to mitigate the impact of global warming.

Climate change has significantly threatened us all, as individuals and as a planet. More and more people are now aware of the livestock industry not only brought about by diseases but also climate change.

According to a 2006 report by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), entitled Livestock's Long Shadow: The report found that livestock production produces 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, including 9 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions, 37 percent of methane, and 65 percent of nitrous oxide which is approximately 296 times more potent than CO2 as a global warming gas.

Again, a study in 2008 concluded that the production of 2.2 lbs of beef would cause the same amount of carbon emissions as an average European car driving 155 miles. The amount of energy burnt was enough to light a 100watt bulb for almost 20 days.

Nobel Laureate, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated, “Please eat less meat; meat is a very carbon intensive commodity ...” and “The single action that a person can take to reduce carbon emissions is vegetarianism.”

Due to the impact that meat has on the environment, we need to reduce our consumption of this carbon intensive product as an effective solution to the climate change crisis. This petition calls for Hong Kong officials to take action now that will show Hong Kong Government’s commitment to tackling Climate Change. Hong Kong is a developed city financially and economically without animal husbandry. It does not mean that do not need to be responsible for climate change. We ought to know that every day affluent people in Hong Kong are eating well-off large numbers of livestock imported from elsewhere together with the habit of excessive waste of food, we should also have responsibilities for the climate change affected countries and people.

Be a responsible government, we should follow the example of the city of Ghent in Belgium who has shown leadership and recognized the importance of promoting vegetarianism as a solution to addressing climate change and reducing its carbon footprint by ask its citizens to go meatless one day a week. Every Thursday is now veggie day. It is reported in recent headlines, the city of Ghent in Belgium (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8046970.stm)

This petition calls for Hong Kong Government officials to take immediate action by adopting “Meat Free Monday” for every Monday when the citizens of Hong Kong will abstain from meat products in an effort to protect the environment and halt global warming.

Let your voice be heard in Hong Kong and around the world join the meat free, meat less, and meat out campaigns - Sign & Spread the petition anyway you know how. Please also visit
http://www.meatfreepetition.com