Wildfires Prompt ‘Go Vegan’ Appeal to Australian P.M.

PETA Highlights Animal Agriculture’s Link to Fire-Fueling Climate Change

For Immediate Release:
January 7, 2020

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

As the wildfires in Australia have killed an estimated half a billion mammals, birds, and reptiles in recent months, PETA sent a letter today urging Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to help combat climate change—which experts agree is driving the devastating fires—by going vegan.

PETA points out that the link between climate change and animal agriculture has been extensively documented. Two-thirds of Australia’s water supply is used for agriculture—and 43% of this water is used to produce food for animals who are raised for meat and dairy and who generate two-thirds of the industry’s greenhouse-gas emissions.

“Australia is on fire, and the meat industry is fueling the fires that are killing the country’s wildlife by the millions,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “As people around the world search for ways to save these animals, PETA is calling on the prime minister to set an example by going vegan—and by making all government buildings and public schools vegan, too.”

The United Nations warns that a global shift to vegan eating is vital if we are to combat the worst effects of climate change. A recent analysis found that the average person will need to eat 75% less beef and 90% less pork and cut their egg consumption in half in order to avoid further catastrophic climate change. In addition to combating deforestation, decreasing their own carbon footprint, and sparing the lives of nearly 200 animals per year, people who go vegan reduce their risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and other health conditions.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.