UK varsity bans beef products consumption to fight climate change

Students at a University of London college are saying goodbye to lunchtime pies, mid-lecture beef jerky snacks, and post-exam burgers – for the climate.

UK college Goldsmiths has removed beef products from all campus retailers as part of efforts to fight climate change, the school announced in a media release.

But that wasn’t the only shake-up.

The changes, introduced by the school’s new warden, Professor Frances Corner, would also see students charged a £0.10 (NZ$0.19) levy for bottled water and single-use plastic cups in a bid to discourage use.

Why? Because “declaring a climate emergency cannot be empty words”, Corner said in a statement.

Along with a number of schools in the UK, Goldsmiths officially announced a climate emergency and began implementing changes to cut carbon use and become a carbon neutral organisation.

In addition to the beef ban and plastic levy, it would also be investing in more solar panels across campus, planting more trees, adding more climate change subjects to the curriculum, and switching to 100 per cent clean energy when it was practical to do so.

“I truly believe we face a defining moment in global history and Goldsmiths now stands shoulder to shoulder with other organisations willing to call the alarm and take urgent action to cut carbon use,” Corner said.

“The growing global call for organisations to take seriously their responsibilities for halting climate change is impossible to ignore.”

The college also announced its investment fund would remove its money from companies “that generate more than 10 per cent of their revenue from the extraction of fossil fuels”, the statement explained. It had already removed £2.5 million.

The changes would take effect next month.