NOT only is there an absolute link between climate change and bushfires, there's also a definite connection between climate change and meat and other animal-based foods. If we want to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions - and stop the spread of bushfires and other environmental catastrophes - we must opt for vegan foods. About 10 per cent - or 55 million tonnes - of Australia's total CO2 equivalent emissions are the result of enteric fermentation - cows and sheep belching and farting. The president of the Worldwatch Institute has even blamed the "world's supersized appetite for meat" for steadily increasing greenhouse-gas emissions. According to the United Nations, meat and dairy products require more resources and cause more greenhouse-gas emissions than do vegan foods. Researchers from Loma Linda University in the US have found that vegans have the smallest carbon footprint, generating 41 per cent fewer greenhouse gasses than meat-eaters and 13 per cent fewer than vegetarians. Eating meat isn't just an animal rights issue. For the health of the planet, we can no longer be "just" animal rights advocates or "just" environmentalists. We all need to transition to environmental vegans if we are to beat bushfires and survive the next century. Please vote with your fork and knife to save animals and the planet. - DESMOND BELLAMY, PETA Australia special projects coordinator.

Vegan way to go