Yesterday, the Globe and Mail ran a commentary titled: "Care about the environment? Eat less meat."

At a press conference in Paris last week, Rajendra Pachauri, head of the United Nation's Nobel Prize-winning panel on climate change, asked the world to "please eat less meat. This is something that the IPCC was afraid to say earlier, but now we have said it." He went on to explain how meat is a very carbon-intensive commodity.

Pachauri cited studies that have shown that producing 2.2 pounds of meat causes the emissions equivalent of 80 pounds of carbon dioxide. In addition, raising and transporting that slab of beef, lamb or pork requires the same energy as lighting a 100-watt bulb for three weeks.

In 2006, the United Nations issued a stunning report on global warming, showing that livestock production is responsible for more climate change gasses than all the motor vehicles in the world. In total, it is responsible for 18 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.

The image shows Pachauri and Al Gore accepting the Nobel Peace Prize for the work they did on bringing the threat of climate change to light. Pachauri accepted the award on behalf of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Pachauri is an Indian economist and is 67 years old.  He has been a lifelong vegetarian.

The Globe article received more than 350 comments! Many are dismissive or in denial, but there are some favourable ones, including:

"Please consider making some changes, for the animals who live horrible lives as objects living under intolerable conditions on factory farms, for yourself and your own health, and for the planet."

Related: For more on this issue, see our factsheet on meat production and climate change and our in depth article: Climate change: The inconvenient truth about what we eat.