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Plant Based Treaty Heads to The Bonn Climate Meetings 2026

Our Plant Based Treaty team will once again be at the Bonn Climate Talks for the 5th year from June 8-18, advocating for a plant-based food system enabling us to live safely within our planetary boundaries.

The annual Bonn conference, held at the headquarters of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, hosts discussions and work on the technical aspects of climate policies aimed at meeting our goals under the Paris Agreement. This paves the way for key decisions to be made later this year at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey from November 9-20.

For Plant Based Treaty, Bonn is an important opportunity to continue discussing one of the most overlooked climate solutions: transforming our global food system to plant-based. At Bonn, we will be asking national governments to negotiate a global Plant Based Treaty to put food systems at the forefront of combatting the climate crisis. This would align with the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5ºC. Although the IPCC demonstrates that a plant-based diet is an optimal diet to reduce food-related emissions drastically, plant-based solutions are still not on the table.

Our “outside team” will be joined by our “inside team” who have special badges, and will be meeting with country delegates, city officials, academics, and other nonprofits to talk about the need to integrate plant-based climate policies into their NDCs and LT-LEDS (these are Nationally Determined Contributions and Long Term Low Emissions Development Strategies reports which countries submit on their near term 5-10 years and long-term 30-50 years plans to achieve net zero) and asking they endorse the treaty. Ezgi, in her research for our one pager, found very little mention of diet change in NDCs.

A plant-based diet remains the single most effective dietary shift for climate mitigation, noted by the IPCC.

Meet the Team

We asked our on the ground team: “What is the main goal you wish to achieve by attending the Bonn Climate Talks?”

🌱 Outside Team

“For the past four years, we’ve been on the ground at the Bonn Climate Conference serving up free vegan hot dogs with the Plant Based Treaty team. What started as a simple food truck idea—Food for Thought—has become a powerful way to engage delegates, attendees, and the public in the urgent conversation about food system change. Handing out hundreds of plant-based hot dogs outside the World Conference Center, we’ve seen firsthand how a vegan hot dog can open doors to deeper discussions about animal agriculture’s massive climate footprint.”

“I am there to support the inside team by providing free delicious plant-based hot dogs, keeping up good morale, and spreading positivity while creating room for engagement.”

“At the Bonn Climate Change Conference I will offer my skills of visual story telling to create content that will afterwards be shared on the Plant Based Treaty social media platforms. My presence will mostly be to assist my colleagues working directly on the political side to reach the wider public that follow the Plant Based Treaty mission.”

🌍  Inside Team

“At the Bonn Climate Change Conference, my focus will be on advocating for stronger integration of sustainable and plant-based food systems into climate policies and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as well as calling for a global Plant Based Treaty. Science already clearly shows that food system change is imperative for achieving the Paris Agreement goals, yet this is still not reflected enough in current policies. Food systems can no longer stay on the sidelines of climate negotiations.”

“My main goal in Bonn is to secure individual commitments from Global South politicians and city representatives to understand the urgency and endorse the Plant Based Treaty. The Amazon Cluster is a concrete example of what’s possible. Four cities from the world’s largest tropical forest, Belém, Ananindeua, Abaetetuba, and Oeiras do Pará, have come together to call for food system transition. I want to promote similar efforts in other regions.”

“At the Bonn Climate Change Conference, I aim to build bridges among diverse stakeholders and promote plant-based food systems as central to climate action. I’ll emphasize an approach that safeguards both human and planetary health, extending beyond greenhouse gas emissions. My mission is to advocate for plant-based diets and a global Plant Based Treaty as a solution to social and environmental challenges.”

“A key priority will be to generate excitement and commitment across countries, cities, companies, and organizations for the food transition. I will focus on laying the path for endorsements of the Plant Based Treaty while also building alliances with other networks and groups working to integrate food system language into climate policies and pledges.”

“My primary goal at the Bonn Climate Talks is to establish and strengthen high-level political contacts with country delegates, negotiators, and municipal leaders. The Bonn Climate Talks offer a unique environment to build the diplomatic relationships necessary to advance toward a Plant Based Treaty.”

Call to Action

✍🏽 Sign our petition calling on the Bonn Climate Meetings to provide 100% plant-based catering 

🔖 Download our free Safe and Just report here

🌱 Sign the Plant Based Treaty

📧 Take part in our email action inviting your local councillors to add their support to the treaty

🪧 Get active with Plant Based Treaty as a volunteer

Support our work by making a one time or monthly donation. All donations will be matched by a generous donor, doubling your contribution: PlantBasedTreaty.org/donate

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