A massive billboard urging Glaswegians to go vegan for the planet has been rejected out of concern that the confrontational ad would receive “too many complaints”. 

The Earth Day billboard from PETA, which encourages Scots to “take personal responsibility”, was designed to promote "emissions-slashing eating habits" ahead of the United Nations’ climate change conference in Glasgow taking place later this year.

However, media owner Clear Channel, in charge of providing the billboard, deemed the message potentially offensive to members of the public.

READ MORE: COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow may be postponed again due to Covid

PETA Senior Campaigns Manager Kate Werner has said the billboard would have acted as a "wake-up call" to those of us eating meat.

She said: “The UN has stated that a global shift to vegan eating is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change.

"PETA’s ad would have been a wake-up call to anyone who can look at a plate of sausage or black pudding without considering the environmental impact of these foods – or the animals who suffered for them.”

A spokesperson for Clear Channel explained the decision not to run the ad ahead of COP26, but said they were open to working with PETA on future campaigns.

The Herald: The proposed billboard was deemed potentially offensiveThe proposed billboard was deemed potentially offensive

They said: “As an out-of-home media owner, we take a neutral stance towards all advertising and have robust procedures in place to ensure that the creatives we run are legally compliant and are sensitive to public sentiment.

"On this instance the ASA advised that the advert may cause offence to members of the public and therefore the decision was taken not to run it.

"We would be very happy to engage with PETA and their agencies to find a way to support future campaigns.”

According to the UN, animal agriculture is responsible for nearly a fifth of human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions and raising animals for food is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global”. 

READ MORE: Greta Thunberg won't attend Glasgow summit as COP26 'should be postponed'

However, PETA claims that widespread adoption of vegan eating could cut global greenhouse-gas emissions by 70% by 2050, in addition to enhancing animal welfare.

PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes "speciesism", also offers a free vegan starter kit on its website.

The billboard was part of a campaign for the run up to the international climate talks due to take place in Glasgow later this year.

World leaders are expected to attend the summit which has been described as the most significant international meeting on climate change since the Paris Agreement in 2015.

It is being held at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) from November 1-12 and a call for volunteers to support staging the event has attracted 10,011 applicants – more than 10 times the roughly 1,000 places available.