Climate change must be solved. Aside from a handful of increasingly fringe deniers, albeit some with considerable power, the fact of impending climate change and the threat it carries are widely acknowledged. The question, then, is how we must stop it.

Commonly proposed and accepted solutions to the problem generally fall into one of three categories.

The first is government action. Environmentalists may suggest implementing regulations or standards to reduce emissions.

The second category is business initiatives. Businesses may innovate clever ways to reduce emissions to be more efficient, and good-willed businesses may even go out of their way to develop sustainable programs for the good of their community.

The third category is personal action. Ordinary people may accept the burden themselves by reducing their time driving, decreasing their water waste, or, as is discussed here, reducing or eliminating meat from their diet.

Reducing meat consumption must be a part of the solution to climate change because, simply, climate change is likely unsolvable without reducing our reliance animal agriculture. The Guardian reports that livestock and humans now make up 96% of all mammals, and livestock farming generates as many greenhouse gases as all the world’s cars, trucks, and airplaces combined. A 2018 report in Nature detailed these dangers and demonstrated that substantial swaths of the population transitioning to a vegetarian diet is not only be helpful to prevent the worst consequences of climate change, but in fact, it is potentially necessary.

Reducing meat consumption fits into two of the three categories of solutions to climate change: personal action and business initiatives. Vegetarianism is a personal action because it is a lifestyle imposed on oneself, but it also affects businesses as it is boycott-like in nature.

Vegetarianism also carries some bonus environmental benefits that allow it to address other critical environmental issues. According to Science Daily, if everyone shifted to a vegetarian diet, we could provide food for 1.8 billion more people without increasing water use. Furthermore, because animal agriculture requires such a large amount of nitrogen and phosphorus, it is a large contributor to eutrophication and the creation of hypoxic zones.

The evidence is clear that vegetarianism must be a part of saving our environment.

Moving forward, we as citizens must continue to urge our legislators to regulate and we must keep urging businesses we frequent to take on sustainability initiatives. But at the same time, we must take personal responsibility to cut down on our meat consumption.

With climate change, we don’t have the opportunity to wait and hope that our leaders will act. If recent trends are to be trusted, any salvation from governmental action alone will be too little too late.

It’s time for us to put our food where our metaphorical mouths are and put the burden of change-making on ourselves.

-Ben Chapman

Ben Chapman is a reporter and commentator in Illinois. He is a student in Food Science and Human Nutrition and ran for his local County Board in 2018. You can stay updated on his commentaries at his Facebook Page and his Twitter.