Our city has declared a climate emergency, with environmentalism and how to reduce our personal carbon footprints being a hot topic among students. This month Goldsmiths University announced that it would be removing beef from all of their campuses in a bid to tackle climate change and fulfil their goal of being carbon neutral by 2025. This is a goal that King's also has outlined in their sustainability plan.

A recent study conducted by Poore and Nemecek (2018) highlights how cutting out meat and dairy creates the biggest difference an individual can make for reducing their impact on the Earth. Beef has the largest impact of all meats, using roughly 43,000 litres of water per 1 kg (Pimentel et al., 2004), and is equivalent to using 63 car miles worth of Co2 emission per 1kg (Environmental Working Group, 2011). A recent report has also highlighted that meat and dairy companies surpass oil companies, such as Shell and BP, as the larger emitter of greenhouse gasses (GRAIN and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 2018), making it a significant contributor to global warming.

Something as simple as what we put on our plates can make a huge difference. The removal of beef products from our campuses would be a fantastic step in the right direction. A ‘Meat Free Monday’ in our cafeterias would also be a simple way to reduce King’s impact on the environment, offering plant-based alternatives instead.

It is imperative that we do not ignore the “elephant in the room” so to speak; animal agriculture has a tremendous negative impact on our environment, and we can all do our part to reduce and stop our individual consumption. This is why we propose that our fantastic university follows in the footsteps of Goldsmiths and even goes further, making history with the actions we take today to create a brighter tomorrow.