Leonardo Di Caprio has joined forces with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist group to ban beef.
The Chief of RSS, Mohan Bhagwat is on track to take the campaign to ban the consumption of beef an international to an platform by organising a massive rally in the UK with more than ten thousand Hindus attending, and the movie star and passionate environmentalist, Leonardo DiCaprio, is in full support.
Whilst the RSS’ moviation for banning beef in India is driven by religious factors, as Hindu’s regard cows as sacred, DiCaprio’s main concern is towards animal rights and protecting the environment by reducing the consumption of meat. In recent years, DiCaprio has become an influential figure in raising awareness about the climate change crisis, even using his Oscar’s acceptance speech to raise awareness of climate change. During a fundraiser hosted by his foundation, DiCaprio said, “We’ve decimated our forests, wild lands, polluted and over fished our rivers and oceans- all the key ecosystems that not only serve as a home to our planet’s biodiversity, but also make life here for us possible.”
DiCaprio is a vocal environmental activist, who famously produced Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, a documentary which highlights how animal agriculture is a fundamental cause of environmental damage, as 75% of our agricultural land area is currently devoted to growing crops for livestock consumption. Experts have also said that greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector are estimated to account for 14.5 percent of the global total, which is more than direct emissions from the transport sector. Beef and dairy are the most emissions-intensive livestock products and are responsible for the most emissions, accounting for 65 per cent of the total GHGs emitted by livestock, according to Livestock – Climate Change’s Forgotten Sector, a Chatham House report published in 2014.
Sir Richard Branson and David Attenborough are also joining hands with the RSS and will be attending the anti-beef movement alongside Leonardo.
The rally will take place at the golden jubilee event on July 31.
This story first appeared on The Express Tribune.