TOGETHER WE CAN BUILD A BETTER FUTURE! 2020 has been an unforgettable year, with our attention divided between fears over coronavirus and anxiety over climate change. What has become increasingly obvious is that these two threats have something in common; both are heavily linked to our consumption of animal products.
Animal agriculture is responsible for an estimated 14.5 percent of all human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. Oxford University researchers found that almost every animal product creates far more emissions than almost every plant product. Quite simply, we cannot tackle climate change while we farm and eat animals on an industrial scale.
Pandemic experts warn that because of overcrowded, squalid conditions, factory farms – especially chicken farms – are breeding grounds for the next global pandemic.1 Already these farms have given us H1N1 (swine flu) and H5N1 (avian flu), the latter having a 60 percent mortality rate.2
More than one billion tonnes of food must be grown to feed the billions of animals we farm3 – far more than is needed if people were to eat plants. That farmland has to come from somewhere, and all too often it is taken from the wild.
In recent years, more than 80 percent of deforestation in Brazil was to graze farmed animals,4 and still more forests are destroyed to make way to grow crops to feed animals on farms around the world. Deforestation is serious for lots of reasons. It pushes wild species to extinction. It displaces indigenous peoples. It drives climate change. And it brings us in ever closer contact with wild animals and any viruses they may harbour, raising the risk of another pandemic.
Catastrophic climate breakdown and global pandemics could not be more serious, but they are not inevitable. If we act now, the future can be better. So, let’s go into 2021 with positivity and a determination to do all we can to protect our planet, its wild spaces and the health and wellbeing of all its inhabitants. To do that, we must change our diets.
Today, we are urging everyone to help build a better future by signing up to try vegan this January with Veganuary. Together, we can create a world that is kinder and safer for all.
Signatories
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Alan Cumming
Actor
UKAlbert Schweitzer Stifung für unsere Mitwelt
NGO
GermanyAlicia Silverstone
Actor
USAmelia Mist
Made in Chelsea Star
UKAnimal Libre
NGO
InternationalAnne Menden
Actor
GermanyAnthony Mullally
International rugby player
UKAriane Sommer
Model and Author
GermanyAriel Kraselnik
Doctor
ArgentinaAveda (Estee Lauder)
Toiletries and cosmetics company
UKBaroness Jenny Jones
Member of the House of Lords
UKBella Ramsey
Actor
UKBenjamin Zephaniah
Poet
UKBeverley Callard
Actor
UKBryan Adams
Musician
UKCarl Donnelly
Comedian
UKCaroline Lucas MP
Member of Parliament
UKCentre for a Responsible Future
NGO
SingaporeChris Packham
Broadcaster and naturalist
UKChrissie Hynde
Singer songwriter
US/UKChristina Rees MP
Member of Parliament
UKCrica Wolthers
Entrepeneur, angel investor, CEO Zen App
BrazilDakota Blue Richards
Actor
UKDale Vince
Football club owner and businessman
UKDeborah Meaden
Businesswoman
UKDerek Sarno
Chef and Director of Plant Based Innovation at Tesco
UKDjurens Rätt
NGO
SwedenDotsie Bausch
Olympic Cyclist
USDustin Watten
International volleyall player
USEdie Falco
Actor
USEliana Albasetti
Actor
ChileEmiliano D’Avila
Actor
BrazilEmily Fleeshman
Actor
UKEmma Woods
CEO, Wagamama
UKEnrico Rapalin
Audiovisual producer
ArgentinaEva Henderson
Nutritionist
ArgentinaEvanna Lynch
Actor
UKFernando Gabeira
Journalist, writer, former Federal Congressman (Green Party)
BrazilFNDPA – Fórum Nacional de Defesa e Proteção Animal
Animal Protection NGO
Brazil -
Friends of the Earth
Environmental NGO
UKFry’s Family
Food producer
UKGeorgia Meacham
Actor & Model
UKGreen Monday
Social Venture Group
InternationalGreenpeace UK
Environmental NGO
UKHeather Mills
Model, skier and businesswoman
UKHenry Smith MP
Member of Parliament
UKIndia Reynolds
Model and influencer
UKJames Moore
Actor
UKJamie-Lee Kriewitz
Singer
GermanyJane Fallon
Author
UKJane Goodall
Primatologist
US/UKJasmine Harman
TV presenter
UKJason Gillespie
Cricketer
AustraliaJeff and Sandra Beck
Guitarist
UKJohn Bishop
Comedian
UKJohn Robins
Comedian
UKJohnny Marr
Musician
UKJon Richardson
Comedian
UKJonathan Bartley
Co-Leader of the Green Party
UKJosh Franceschi
Musician
UKJulieta Valente
Writer
ArgentinaKaya Yanar
Comedian
GermanyKellie Bright
Actor
UKKerry McCarthy MP
Member of Parliament
UKKuntal Joisher
Mountaineer
IndiaLeslie Clio
Singer
GermanyLily Cole
Model, actor
UKLiveKindly Co
Media outlet
UKLiz Solari
Actor
ArgentinaLucas Reiber
Actor
GermanyLucy Watson
Model and influencer
UKMade with Luve
Food Producer
GermanyMarcela Manuzza
Nutritionist
ArgentinaMaría Paz Orrego
Nutritionist
ChileMarie Wegener
Singer
GermanyMatías Vega
Actor
ChileMatthias Weidenhöfer
Actor
GermanyMayim Bialik
Actor
US -
Meatless Farm Co
Food producer
UKMelanie Joy
Founding President of Beyond Carnism
USMoses Pelham
Rapper
GermanyNatalia Rosa
Actor
BrazilNico Soto
Doctor
ChileOli Sykes
Musician
UKOliver Petszokat
Singer
GermanyOumph!
Food producer
UKPatrik Baboumian
Strongman
GermanyPaul McCartney
Musician
UKPeter Egan
Actor
UKPeter Tatchell
Human rights campaigner
UKProf. Daniel Braga Lourenço, PhD
Coordinator at the Centre for Environmental Ethics – UFRJ
BrazilProf. Paula Brugger, PhD
Ecological Justice Observatory Research Group – UFSC
BrazilProVeg International
NGO
GermanyQuorn
Food Producer
UKRebecca Callard
Actor and TV script writer
UKRicky Gervais
Comedian
UKSage Kotsenburg
Olympic Snowboarder
USSam Carter
Musician
UKSara Pascoe
Comedian
UKSeth Tibbot
Founder and Chairman of The Tofurky Company
USSoledad Pérez
Politician
ChileStefan Eck
Former Member of the European Parliament
GermanySteffen Groth
Actor
GermanySVB – Sociedade Vegetariana Brasileira
Brazilian Vegetarian Society NGO
BrazilThe Vegan Society
NGO
UKTig Notaro
Comedian
USTim Bengel
Artist
GermanyÜnsal Arik
Boxer
GermanyVantastic Foods
Food Producer
GermanyVegane Gesellschaft Schweiz
NGO
SwitzerlandVeganz
Food Producer
GermanyWheaty & Veggyness
Food Producer
GermanyXuxa Meneghel
TV Broadcaster, actor
Brazil
