Building a Sustainable World: Our Diet and the Climate Crisis – Rotary Climate Action Talk

“Global food production threatens climate stability and ecosystem resilience. It constitutes the single largest driver of environmental degradation and transgression of planetary boundaries. Taken together the outcome is dire. A radical transformation of the global food system is urgently needed. Without action, the world risks failing to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.” – Dr. Johan Rockstrom, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
What we choose to eat has an enormous impact on planetary health. The IPCC’s recently-released report made clear that either we pull out ALL of the stops and drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions everywhere we can NOW (especially methane), or we accept responsibility for causing a climate catastrophe and bequeathing to our kids and grandkids a severely degraded planet, far less suitable for human habitation.
Dietary change is simple, fast, and effective. It doesn’t require political will, new technology, trillions of dollars of investment nor decades of implementation. It will unequivocally lead to improved human health and lower rates of chronic disease, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, some cancers and even Alzheimer’s Disease. Globally, it is likely that trillions of dollars will be saved in health care expenditures. And all it takes is a conscious choice by every single one of us to eat more plants and fewer animals starting today. Andrea and Ambaree, Co-Chairs of the Plant-Rich Diet Task Force under the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG), have a mission inspire people around the world to shift to plant-rich diets to protect and preserve our planet. To that end they will share tips for how to successfully experiment with building a plant-rich diet that works for you.

Andrea Wotan
Andrea earned her Master of Public Health degree in Nutritional Sciences and completed her training to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Andrea founded an online plant-based nutrition coaching practice and just joined MasteringDiabetes.org as a Health coach working with individuals to improve and, in the case of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, reverse their condition. Andrea earned her BA in Economics from Stanford University and had a decade-long career as an investment banker, working with technology companies in Silicon Valley and around the world.

Ambaree Majumder
Ambaree is a second generation Rotarian, a member of the Rotary Club of Marina City in Singapore. She is an IT Business Analyst by qualification but for the past few years she has been spending most of her time as a Social Entrepreneur giving talks, writing and conducting workshops about how leading a lifestyle that is in-tune with the well-being of our planet also benefits our health and fellow human beings. She is certified in Plant-based Nutrition and Food Sustainability from Cornell.