PRESS RELEASES | 2024

Belfast endorses Plant Based Treaty in response to the climate crisis and food insecurity

Media Contacts:

• Andrew Garner, Plant Based Treaty city campaigner [email protected]
• [email protected]

Media Files: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ABHE72A4WTH4WL9pqP9g8MrU-petcWst

Media Contacts:

• Andrew Garner, Plant Based Treaty city campaigner [email protected]
• [email protected]

Media Files: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ABHE72A4WTH4WL9pqP9g8MrU-petcWst

(Belfast – April 21, 2024) — The Northern Ireland capital, Belfast, has become the first city on the island of Ireland to endorse the Plant Based Treaty and inspire people and businesses to make more sustainable food choices.

In a motion introduced by West Belfast councillor and Foodstock founder Paul Doherty passed, the city unanimously recognised the need to put food systems at the heart of combating the climate crisis and encourage a shift to healthier and sustainable plant-based diets, while simultaneously working to reverse the damage to ecosystems and biodiversity.

Councillor Doherty said, “We have made real progress with Belfast becoming a Right To Food city and securing funding for breakfast clubs and other initiatives, and I believe adopting the Plant Based Treaty is an important next step.”

Belfast City Council will now write to the Northern Ireland Assembly to call for a further endorsement of the Plant Based Treaty and for a greater commitment to transitioning further towards more sustainable plant-based food systems. 

The Belfast Sustainable Food Partnership is developing a food strategy, and Councilor Doherty hopes that much of what has been outlined within the Plant Based Treaty can be considered to form part of plans going forward. BSFP, which was formed in August 2023, is a cross-sector partnership of 27 organisations from across business, community, government and academia.

Andrew Garner, Plant Based Treaty cities campaigner, said, “As the capital of Northern Ireland, and the third European capital to endorse Plant Based Treaty this is a significant milestone in putting food emissions front and centre of climate action planning. It is time for more cities, along with their institutions and businesses, to address food impacts on the climate crisis and food security by developing plant-based food strategies and public education to help communities increase consumption of plant-based food.”

According to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Programme, which included figures from 2008-2009 and 2011-2012, people in Northern Ireland, on average, eat more meat than any other part of the UK. The report states: “Red and processed meat consumption was higher in Northern Ireland compared with the UK in all age/sex groups, and reached statistical significance in all age/sex groups except for adults aged 65 years and over”.

Belfast’s move means they will join 26 towns and cities worldwide, including Edinburgh, Amsterdam and Los Angeles, in calling for a global Plant Based Treaty as a companion to the Paris Agreement. Food accounts for a third of greenhouse gas emissions globally, with a recent analysis of UK diets showing that plant-based diets result in 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution and land use than diets in which more than 100g of meat a day are eaten.

Background

The Plant Based Treaty is modelled on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and since its launch in August 2021, the initiative has received support from 150,000 individual endorsers, 5 Nobel laureates, IPCC scientists, and more than 3000 groups and businesses, including Veganuary, Ecotricity, Linda McCartney Foods, Plant Based Health Professionals, UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, and chapters of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.

The Plant Based Treaty has secured high-profile endorsements from celebrities, including Chris Packham and Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney, who issued a written statement calling for politicians to support the Plant-Based Treaty. They said: “We believe in justice for animals, the environment and people. That’s why we support the Plant Based Treaty and urge individuals and governments to sign it.”