SDG7 - Affordable Energy - Beyond Cruelty
Between 2000 and 2016, the number of people with electricity increased from 78 to 87 percent, and the numbers without electricity dipped to just below one billion. Yet as the population continues to grow, so will the demand for cheap energy, and an economy reliant on fossil fuels is creating drastic changes to our climate. Investing in solar, wind and thermal power, improving energy productivity, and ensuring energy for all is vital if we are to achieve SDG 7 by 2030. Expanding infrastructure and upgrading technology to provide clean and more efficient energy in all countries will encourage growth and help the environment.
Most consumers are not aware that animal agriculture is the third-largest consumer of unsustainable dirty fossil fuels, after energy production and overall industrial usage. In reality, this industry not only directly employs fossil fuels but it also is a heavy user of petrochemicals through growth enhancement chemicals, fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. The entire supply chain of animal agriculture employs a vast amount of transportation with animal feed grown in one continent, exported to another and animals then being transported long distances by land or water to be slaughtered where it can be done the most cheaply and closest to the market for those products. Animal parts not consumed in place are often processed and turned into other consumer products in another location. Packaging of animal products requires plastics which are also derived from petroleum.
“Energy consumption in animal production” – I. Veermäe, J. Frorip, E. Kokin, J. Praks, V. Poikalainen, A. Ruus, L.Lepasalu – https://enpos.weebly.com/uploads
“Replacing Just 10% of Animal Ag With Plant-Based Would Save Land Equivalent to Size of Germany” – If 10% of the global animal market was replaced by plant-based products, by 2030 we could save CO2 emissions equivalent to 2.7 billion trees – https://vegconomist.com/environment
“Livestock and Climate Change” – By Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang – https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/veganaustralia/pages/21/attachments/original
“Milking the Planet” – How Big Dairy is heating up the planet and hollowing rural communities, Jun 15, 2020, by Shefali Sharma – https://www.iatp.org