As debates on environmentalism heat up throughout the world, individuals working in different media forms are getting involved.

British artist and animal rights activist Sue Coe gave her take on environmentalism, art, human rights and peace while visiting NYU Abu Dhabi on Oct. 8. She voiced her opinion on eating meat, that it perpetuates ideas of power structures and control over others and other cultures. Arguing that animals have their own cultures, Coe emphasized that when humans eat meat, they exert their power over other animals.

“If you ask an animal if it’s their culture to die, that’s not their culture,” said Coe.

As environmentalism is increasingly a hot topic around the globe, it has reached out to other media like the arts, where such dialogue has started to bloom.

Senior Charlotte Wang, co-founder of Ecoherence, the environmental awareness Student Interest Group, described the difficulties that can arise when discussing environmental issues.

“We come in with such different ideas of what is important and what is not,” said Wang. “I found that doing things with Ecoherence here has often pushed people away from thinking about environmental issues because we get pushed back by people who are offended when we ask them to turn off their lights or when we ask them to recycle.”

Wang said that cultural differences often complicated the dialogue on environmentalism.

"There is a way in the rhetoric of environmentalism that can get very accusatory," added Wang. "It can seem a one-way conversation, patronizing."

NYU New York Environmental Science professor Julianne Warren has noticed that personal choice has contributed to creating conflict during environmental discussions.

“There are some people dominating others and trying to take more than their fair share; it contributed greatly to the eventual outbreak of war and genocide,” said Warren in an email.

The distribution of resources on a planet with a rapidly growing population poses severe complications. The global population rose from one billion to seven billion people within the last 200 years.

“We starve one half of the world whilst over-feeding the other half. Malnutrition and obesity is the same dance with each other and completely avoidable,” said Coe. “We can feed the earth many, many times, we can feed the population of the earth on grains, but we’re feeding grains to animals because of our taste for meat.”

There are many facets of the same problem. Mega-factory farming causing air and water pollution with the use of fossil fuels and pharmaceutical practices are not to be ignored.

Changes and actions to face such issues need to be taken quickly.

“There won’t be any policy maker in the future that won’t have to deal with these ... concerns of resource scarcity, sustainable practices, the environment and human impact,” said Wang. "It requires each of us to rethink our lifestyle on a global scale and rethink our endless growth of consumption.”

There are many eco-programs and conferences available and accessible in Abu Dhabi that are bringing these conversations to the table on every level. From a summit hosted by the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi’s Eye on Earth and the Masdar Institute that hosts student discussions, to Ecoherence’s Earth Day celebration, there exists a growing network of environmental initiatives that encourage global participation.

“What we should aim for is not to be so human-centric but to consider [that] every being [that] has the right to be here has the right to be alive,” Coe added.

Advice on how to address overpopulation, animal rights and the use of fossil fuels includes making lifestyle changes and increasing awareness.

“Don't breed, go vegan,” said Coe.

Wang encourages a consciousness of political relationships that influences the environment, which in turn promotes smaller acts of environmentalism such as recycling and turning the lights off.

“It should be our awareness of the bigger issues that motivates us to do what we do,” Wang said. “Think creatively and compassionately about how to fit our needs and desires within the health of the Earth. Earth is not a bunch of resources, but an interconnected community of co-evolving beings who depend upon each other.”