UNITED NATIONS (TURKISH JOURNAL) – Nishat Mirza – On the Global launch of EAT-Lancet Commission’s Report on Food, Health & The Environment, Actor and Activist Alec Baldwin says Eating to Save ourselves can Save the Planet as well.
Baldwin starts his speech with a photograph of the Amazon rainforest, explaining his passion to save the forest and save those rare species that are being extinct. Human activity is causing great harm to our climate and relatedly, our earth, erasing countless species forever, shifting biodiversity, leading to the general degradation of life itself. In a crucial time like this, the Eat-Lancet Report shows a clear path to using half of our planet’s resources to produce food for us while the other half can be left alone. This is possible if we shift our diets from mainly meat based to heavily plant based diet. Hence, greening our planet dramatically.
The Eat-Lancet commission is a scientific solution for a healthy and sustainable future for our planet. This report took 3 years of research by 37 well renowned scientists around the world, explaining if we eat more vegetables, less meat and daily products, as well as eliminate processed food, added sugar and food wastage, we will be able to live a healthy life for ourselves and our planet.
Ambassador Mona Juul, of Norway Mission to the UN added, the EAT-Lancet commission is a fact based valuable discussion on how food, health and climate is connected. EAT also promotes good governance, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement for Health, Climate and the Environment. We must implement the findings of EAT at UN, at our home and our society.
Satya Tripathi, Assistant Secretary General of UN Environment says “We Are What We Eat”, it is the old teachings of Ayurveda from his home country India. If we double the amount of plant based diet, we will double the green cover of our planet. In order to fix carbon dioxide level in our atmosphere, a greener planet is the best solution.
Alec Baldwin added to the discussion saying we are able to save our planet from extinction by setting targets, connecting dots, and calling for collaboration. Our target must be food and environmental security, along with protecting our forest and biodiversity. Half of our planet is enough to produce food for us; the other half should be protected to let nature and its species flourish. No more forest distractions is needed while we can make better use of what we already have.
