Livestock production accounts for about 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the leading drivers of deforestation. This is why Amsterdam is banning meat advertising from May 1, 2026.
What are your thoughts on this approach, and should similar measures be considered in other countries?
This idea is wrong for so many reasons! The biggest is giving government power to micro-manage people lives and choices. The second-biggest is government following false pseudo-scientific beliefs in media: in this case environment is narrowed to CO2 and CO2 to meat production.
I see that you are against government interference. But what if citizens support the government's decision via referendum or launch a popular initiative and vote in favour of stopping meat advertising
I think the role of Swiss government, as well as citizens organizations, is to inform about the real value of every proposal. Remember, that support of citizens or government does not make bad decision a good one. Lets not confuse the political process with a merit of an initiative.
Meat advertising ban in the Netherlands is an interesting opportunity for Swiss journalists in a different way: describing what happened next. Did carbon emissions really go lower? Did other countries followed a good example? (A common argument of similar initiatives is value signalling, as if China or the USA really cared about what people in the Netherlands think). I like to follow what happened to such controversial initiatives after several years, and they typically end rather badly.
Cant say a meat advertisement ever convinced me to buy what was being advertised. I am going to get meat no matter what message might be displayed on my walk to the grocery store. ____There are 8.5 billion people in the world needing to eat as such even the exaggerated number of 12% seems acceptable compared to say the 3% used by politicians and the wealthy flying in private jets. Seems the easier fix is to make everyone fly commercial...but the politicians do like their luxuries while having others make sacrifices.
Any measure to minimize greenhouse Das emissions is worth the while. Meat consumption, especially red meat, is a proven health hazard. I support the move to ban meat advertising globally.
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