Peta India Billboard Starring Pamela Anderson Removed

“Too Hot?” asked Pamela Anderson on a billboard near Indira Gandhi International Airport. The billboard was put up by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India. It aimed to draw attention to the role of animal agriculture in the global climate catastrophe marked by high temperatures, droughts, and floods, among other disasters and advised them that going vegan is the answer. 

However, soon after it was erected this week, the billboard was removed by authorities and PETA India received no written explanation. In recent months, Delhi and other Indian cities have experienced unusually high temperatures, nearing 50°C.

“PETA India’s head-turning billboard campaign targeted at G20 leaders came as Indian cities were already experiencing unusually high temperatures, nearing 50°C, as well as deadly floods, wildfires, and other disasters linked to the climate catastrophe and worsened by the effects of animal-derived food production on the planet,” says PETA India Manager of Vegan Projects Dr Kiran Ahuja. “If G20 leaders and those who attend other climate-related conferences like the upcoming COP28 continue to put the interests of the meat and dairy industries above those of the public, we can expect irreversible damage to our planet.”

The production of meat and dairy, including curd and cheese, accounts for about 60 per cent of all food-related greenhouse gas emissions, making it a major contributor to climate change. Anderson and PETA India aim to persuade G20 member countries to commit to fighting climate change with diet change by urging their residents to eat responsibly by eating vegan.

Researchers at the University of Oxford found that not consuming meat and dairy can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73 per cent and that a global switch to vegan eating could save up to 8 million human lives by 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds, and lead to healthcare-related savings. Researchers have estimated that it could also avoid climate-related damages of 1.5 trillion USD. 

Globally, an estimated 92.2 billion land animals alone are slaughtered every year, and most of them are raised in severe confinement. Chickens exploited for their eggs are kept in cages so small they can’t spread their wings, male piglets and others are castrated without painkillers, and fish are yanked out of the water and crushed, suffocated, or cut open and gutted, all while they’re fully conscious.