The case against eating meat usually centres on the health effects or cruelty involved in the upkeep and slaughter of farm animals, but climate change is another big reason to go vegetarian.

The livestock sector is responsible for 7.1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions a year – about 15 per cent of the global total, a report by international affairs think-tank Chatham House notes.

This is equivalent to the exhaust emissions from all the world’s vehicles – cars, ships and planes.

And a growing global population is expected to add more pressure.

… Dr Jonatan Lassa, a research fellow from Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, pointed out that more attention must also be paid to how climate change can have an impact on meat supply.

“Non-climatic factors, such as the increase in populations, urbanisation and the growing global middle-income class, are adding pressure to the demand for more consumption of animal protein.”

This, he said, will place greater demands on the world’s water and energy resources, which can also contribute to climate change.