Climate campaigners will be in Bonn for the United Nations Climate Change Conference starting today to present a new position paper and urge delegates to begin negotiations for a Plant Based Treaty. The move comes after a senior IPCC expert has backed the paper, calling for “global veganization”; an urgent transition to plant-based diets to avoid climate disaster.
“The science is definite, global climate catastrophe cannot be averted without the elimination of meat and dairy”
The new position paper titled “Appetite for a Plant Based Treaty” highlights how the IPCC has repeatedly demonstrated a vegan diet to be the optimal diet to drastically reduce food-related emissions. The position paper has so far been endorsed by over 50 groups and prominent individuals. It offers a roadmap for a fast and just transition to a plant-based food system this decade in response to the climate emergency.
There are growing calls for a Plant Based Treaty from a coalition of businesses and councils, as well as over 40,000 individuals, including IPCC expert reviewers, Nobel Laureates, politicians, and cultural figures like Sir Paul McCartney and Moby. The Plant Based Treaty has 3 core principles: relinquish the expansion of animal agriculture, redirect policies favoring a plant-based food system and restore ecosystems and reforest the Earth.
Dr Peter Carter, IPCC expert reviewer and Director of the Climate Emergency Institute stated: “The science is definite, global climate catastrophe cannot be averted without the elimination of meat and dairy in our diet, and that must happen fast.”
Courtney Vail, Campaign Director at Oceanic Preservation Society, added: “Changing our diets from a focus on animal-based to plant-based products is one of the most powerful things we can do to positively impact the world. Animal agriculture utilizes precious water resources, releases climate-altering greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and reduces the planet’s ability to sequester carbon by destroying diverse ecosystems.”
