LONDON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- The path to stopping the effect of climate change leads through a society that consumes much less meat, a British expert said.
Nicholas Stern, a climate change expert at the London School of Economics, told The Times of London that meat wastes water and creates greenhouse gases to the point that "a vegetarian diet is better."
He told the newspaper that society's views will change to the point where eating meat will become unacceptable.
"People change their notion of what is responsible. They will increasingly ask about the carbon content of their food," Stern said.
He also said that he wasn't sure that people in general "fully understand what we are talking about or the kind of changes that will be necessary."
Stern said the world needs to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. U.N. data indicate meat production is responsible for about 18 percent of those emissions, The Times said.
The Times' interview was part of a lead up to the Dec. 7-18 U.N. climate meeting in Denmark.
