Some thoughts on World Environment Day

by Daniel Pretorius

On 5 June, we observed World Environment Day.  Much was written about climate change and its devastating symptoms—and rightly so.  Conspicuous by its absence, however, was focus on a major cause of ecological degradation: the industrial meat industry. 

Details regarding the meat industry’s destructive impact on the environment, e.g., through greenhouse gas emissions (especially methane) and nitrogen pollution, are readily accessible: see “Drugs, hormones and excrement: the polluting pig mega-farms supplying pork to the world.” The Guardian, 25 November 2024.  But less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture’s contribution to carbon emissions: “Meat is a leading emissions source – but few outlets report on it.” The Guardian, 27 September 2025.

It is more ecologically sustainable to produce plant-based foodstuffs than meat.  Less water is used, and fewer noxious by-products are generated when cultivating alternative food sources: “Meat and dairy production emit more nitrogen than Earth can cope with.” New Scientist, 6 July 2020; “What’s your beef? An ethicist’s guide to giving up meat.” The Economist, 15 June 2021; “Want to save the planet? Eat protein from mushrooms and algae instead of red meat.” The Guardian, 19 July 2022.  A shift from meat-heavy to plant-rich diets will materially reduce greenhouse gas emissions: “Average person eats six times more chicken than in 1961”, The Guardian, 5 June 2026.

85 billion land animals and trillions of aquatic animals are killed annually for human consumption: https://faunalytics.org/global-animal-slaughter-statistics-and-charts/.  Every day, we slaughter approximately 900,000 cows, 3 million sheep and goats, 4 million pigs and 206 million chickens (that’s 140,000 chickens per minute): https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-animals-get-slaughtered-every-day; https://sentientmedia.org/how-many-animals-are-killed-for-food-every-day/.  

It is not only the scale of the slaughter that should give us pause, but also the suffering inflicted on animals reared and killed on factory farms and in abattoirs.  The atrocities inherent in industrial meat production are amply catalogued: “Industrial farming is one of the worst crimes in history”, The Guardian, 25 September 2015; “We will look back on this age of cruelty to animals in horror”, New York Times, 16 December 2021.  To exacerbate matters, 18 billion chickens, turkeys, pigs, sheep, goats and cows are killed annually in the meat industry without reaching human plates, rendering their suffering utterly futile: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2023/11/18-billion-animals-a-year-they-do-die-but-never-end-up-on-our-plate.

Yet most people live in an ostrich-like state of ignorance about the cruel and inhumane nature of the meat industry: they would rather not know.  Hear no evil, see no evil.

The (im)morality of the misery animals endure on factory farms should be considered in light of their sentient nature.  Science recognises animals’ cognitive ability to experience and comprehend pain and psychological trauma.  This is true not only of vertebrates: fish and other marine animals are also sentient to varying degrees. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (§§ 2415-2418) recognises that people owe kindness to God’s creatures: the use of animals “cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives.”  People may not “cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.”  

So, at your next braai, please spare a thought for the animals that lived wretched lives at factory farms and that are slaughtered callously to please human palates.  And think about the harm it causes to the environment.