U.N.: Eat less meat, invest in green


Rajendra Pachauri, U.N. climate scientist, has good news and bad news. I'll give you the latter first: eat less meat. Doing so will help slow global warming. The good news, also related to climate change, is that Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the United Nations, investing in green technologies now is a smart move. So, by following Pachauri's advice, you cut down on your meat but reward yourself with a decent investment return.

If you take his advice as a whole (pretending you don't know you can do one part without the other), it's like getting paid to eat your veggies. Everyone who's been five years old at some point knows that being given green to eat green is ample motivation. The fun part, here, is that you're financing it by investing in green. It all matches!

On a serious note, Pachauri says that the future is headed in a low-carbon direction, calling this development "inevitable." Investing in green companies basically puts you into a space that he sees growing substantially.

There's a lot of green energy out there, and picking the right sector, especially with much of the technology still in the lab, can be tough. Pachauri suggests that battery technology will be toward the top of the list, and he "wouldn't rule out the importance of biofuels." The latter won't use corn. Rather, there will be a new approach that has lower environmental and social implications.

But, what's all this about eating meat?

Pachauri explains that producing meat for consumption is energy intensive, which means that cutting pack will result in lower levels of carbon emissions. He also recommends walking instead of driving, but that's going to be tough in the age of the supercommuter.

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Last updated: February 12, 2012: 09:42 PM

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