Open Letter to Mr. José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission

Dear Mr. President,

On 25 March 2007, European leaders will gather in Berlin to sign a declaration on the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. You want that important event not only to be "a commemoration of past achievements" but also "a restatement and recommitment to our values and ambitions, looking to the future for an enlarged Europe."

It will be a great anniversary celebrating an integrated community of democracies which in the past has brought peace, stability, prosperity and hope to people. However, there are now serious threats to the future which are challenging European ingenuity and are demanding new ways of thinking.

One of the most frightening problems is global warming, and, on behalf of tens of millions of European vegetarians, the European Vegetarian Union wants to take part in the debate.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has just stated at the Paris meeting (1) that global climate change is "very likely" to have a human cause. Not only thousands of scientists behind the study are remarkably united but international organizations are also very aware of the dire situation:

On 29 November 2006, the FAO (2) issued a stark warning: "Livestock a major threat to environment", explaining that the "livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation."

The European Parliament alerted on 31 January 2007 that `Fighting climate change is about "saving civilization"' (3).

Today a great variety of solutions to the problem are being hotly discussed, some of which may be more promising than others. However, unfortunately there is no talk anywhere about the benefits which vegetarianism can deliver. After all, vegetarians do not have any share in the raising and killing of many billions of sentient animals. In the search of how to stop the ongoing destruction of our world, the vegetarian way must not be ignored any longer.

Deeply concerned citizens want to know how they can contribute to the solution of a frightening global problem, and they have a right to obtain solid facts and figures about the situation. This also includes the right to reliable information about the vegetarian alternative and for that reason the European Vegetarian Union invites you to initiate an objective and open investigation of that compassionate lifestyle and make the result easily available to all interested people.

Sincerely,
Renato Pichler
President
European Vegetarian Union


Footnotes:
1. www.ipcc.ch/press/prwg2feb07.htm
2. www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html
3. www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/064-2624-030-01-05-911-20070131STO02623-2007-30-01-2007/default_en.htm