Saving the planet ... one dumpling at a time

Canadian scientists have collaborated with Hong Kong climate campaigners to create meat-free dumplings in the hope of persuading the world's biggest carnivores to stop pigging out.

China eats more meat than any other nation - twice the amount consumed by people in the United States - and a campaigning Hong Kong business is launching a more sustainable, plant-based diet that it says has less impact on global warming, but all of the taste.

"Just to tell people what not to do is not going to solve the problem. You've got to give them alternatives," says David Yeung, founder of Green Monday.

"Climate change, water scarcity, food security - these are giant problems. The easiest way to help the planet is to reduce meat consumption," the business founder says.

Green Monday was founded in 2012 as a social enterprise - a business with a mission to benefit society as well as turn a profit. It will launch Omnipork at its sixth Green Common food stores in Hong Kong at the beginning of June.

It is the latest substitute meat product aimed at carnivores who are open to finding ethical meat alternatives that have less of an impact on the environment.

Scientists attribute nearly 15 percent of global greenhouse gases to meat production.

The industry is the largest driver of global environmental change due to feed production, land use and methane emissions, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.