The United Nations has been forced to delete an anti-meat social media post following backlash from farming groups across the world.
The UN's tweet, posted on Sunday 26 July, said: "The meat industry is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the world’s biggest oil companies."
It went on to say that meat production 'contributed to the depletion of water resources and drives deforestation'.
“See how you can ActNow to protect our planet,” the tweet, which is now deleted, said.
Farming unions and organisations reacted to the message, with Australia's Cattle Council calling the post 'reckless'.
Cattle Council president Tony Hegarty said: “The oil business unlocks long-term carbon storage, the meat business does not.
“It is reckless to say we are the same as an industry that unlocks millennia-old carbon storage.
"The earth’s oil reserves have been locked away for more than 50-million years.
“The United Nations should know meat producers absorb carbon in pasture before emitting it," he said.
Frank Mitloehner, a University of California, Davis professor and air quality CE specialist, also slammed the UN for posting the tweet.
THREAD: To throw blame on animal agriculture for the planet’s climate crisis, while essentially giving Big Oil a pass is RECKLESS. It not only ignores science, but distracts from real solutions. As you can imagine, I have a lot to say about this. https://t.co/Qt9pHW7wkn 1/
— Frank Mitloehner (@GHGGuru) July 27, 2020
"To throw blame on animal agriculture for the planet’s climate crisis, while essentially giving Big Oil a pass is reckless," he said on a tweet.
"It not only ignores science, but distracts from real solutions"
