In case you are wondering why this grainy image shows a man happily navigating the waterways of Belgium in a massive Aubergine, don't panic - I'm going to explain.

The Belgian city of Ghent has decided to implement a weekly meat-free day for all civil servants and councillors, starting this week. The move comes not from a sudden upwelling of concern for animal welfare, but in recognition of the fact that nearly a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock - mostly from burps, but also farts and silage.

Ghent hopes that the rest of its citizens will follow suit, and there are plans for a schoolchildren veggiedag in September. Around 90,000 so-called "veggie street maps" are now being printed to help people find the city's vegetarian eateries.

The plans echo calls made last year by Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for people to help tackle climate change by having a meat-free day every week. This is one of the surest ways to reduce your individual carbon footprint - as well as improve your health in the bargain. Nobody benefits from eating meat every single day, except Bernard Matthews and WeightWatchers. Why not arrange to have your own veggiedag in your family or household?

Someone at Ghent's city authorities is definitely going to get a Not Stupid certificate for this one (if we can only work out who - their whole website's in Dutch).