Environment Assembly

Everything we do has consequences. And who would have thought that a necessity as simple as food could have such severe outcomes for our planet? In reality, around a third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food consumption and production. Before it reaches your plate, a single meal has to be grown, processed, transported, distributed, and prepared, all of which involves enormous amounts of carbon emissions. Meat and especially beef production is known to be a great contributor to climate change for the amount of methane generated by livestock, but also for the detrimental impact of deforestation associated with farming and ranching. Other products, such as dairy and rice, are also common high sources of methane. Even tofu, despite being about five times more “eco-friendly” than meat, still isn’t the perfect universal solution for easing climate change. But despite there being no perfect recipe for avoiding it, the simultaneous improvement of the food production industry, the call for a healthier diet, and the reduction of related waste is the step humanity must take in order to clean up its self-inflicted mess.

Our planet has, many times, proved its beauty and uniqueness through extraordinary fauna and flora. Sadly, in recent times, many species that inhabit the globe have moved on the conservation status scale. Imagine that in just a few years, children might never see a koala, black rhino, an elephant or many of the other animals we cherish, their beauty and wonder slipping away from the real world into mere memories. Due to threats such as global warming or poaching, animals and plants that have once thrived in their natural environments now struggle to survive. This is extremely prevalent in the African continent due to limited resources and high impact of global warming. However, less attention is given to other areas, such as Southeast Asia or South America, that struggle with rapid extinction rates equally as much. It is this committee’s task to come up with proper restrictions and solutions that will save the lives of many organisms and help ecosystems all around the world.