Scientists
Open Letter
We, the undersigned, call on governments around the world to adopt and implement a Plant Based Treaty as a crucial step in addressing the escalating climate catastrophe.
We are asking governments to listen to and act on the science, which consistently demonstrates the grave threat posed to humanity by runaway climate change and highlights the instrumental role food systems have in both contributing to, and being able to mitigate, the growing climate and ecological crisis.
Our house is on fire. Climate change is currently the biggest threat to humanity and action is urgently needed [1]. Our food systems — particularly animal agriculture — are contributing heavily to soaring greenhouse gas emissions, increased frequency and severity of weather extremes, drought, widespread crop failures, loss of critical ecological lifelines, rapid biodiversity decline and are a large-scale threat to food security and human wellbeing globally [2].
Addressing fossil fuels alone — while critically imperative for survival — is not enough if we are to meet targets of limiting global overheating to 1.5°C, as set out in the Paris Agreement [3]. We must directly address the catastrophic impact of animal agriculture and work towards food system transformation as a matter of utmost urgency.
‘Code Red’ for humanity
Our food systems are a major driver of climate change, responsible for approximately 35% of all human-driven greenhouse gas emissions [3] and up to a third of all global deforestation. Animal agriculture is a major source of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide as well as being a significant consumer of limited critical resources such as land and water [2, 4]. Agriculture is a principal driver of accelerating biodiversity loss, with land conversion for animal grazing alongside growing of crops for animal feed responsible for widespread habitat and biodiversity decline [10]. We are also facing large-scale ocean dead zones and a rapid loss of critical marine ecosystems due to industrial overfishing.
Several peer-reviewed studies highlight that if global meat consumption continues on projected trajectories, agricultural emissions will take up the entire world’s carbon budget by 2050, with animal agriculture a major contributor [6]. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights the absolutely critical need to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from animal agriculture, particularly methane, which has a warming effect 80 times more powerful on the planet. Lead reviewer of the IPCC, Durwood Zaelke, said methane reductions were most likely the “only way” of preventing a temperature rise of above 1.5°C. He warns that if this is not achieved, extreme weather patterns will increase and several planetary tipping points could be triggered, from which there is no coming back. Zaelke points out that “cutting methane is the biggest opportunity to slow warming between now and 2040. We need to face this emergency.”
Shift to plant-based
Even if all global fossil fuel emissions stopped immediately, emissions from our food systems alone would still tip us over the 1.5°C temperature rise by 2050 [4]. A shift to plant-based diets is a key climate change mitigation tool and has been widely supported by a range of academic and scientific institutions as an essential step in lessening the climate crisis. The IPCC state that a shift to plant-based would “significantly reduce” food-related greenhouse gas emissions and is a “major opportunity” to both mitigate and adapt to climate change [5], while a recent Oxford University study calculated that emissions from food systems could be reduced by around 70% with a plant-based shift [7].
Scientists have calculated that the environmental footprint of animal-based foods is significantly higher compared to that of plant-based foods; in some cases causing more than double the pollution levels [3]. Animal agriculture is responsible for around 66% of all food’s annual emissions, yet provides only 18% of calories [9]. A switch to plant-based diets and farming would enable us to live within key planetary boundaries while our population continues to grow. As highlighted by Rob Bailey from Chatham House – an independent think tank – “preventing catastrophic warming is dependent on tackling meat and dairy consumption”. [8]
The science is clear, and the desire to move towards a better future is strong. We call on governments and policymakers to urgently commence negotiations to adopt and implement a Plant Based Treaty, laying out a binding global plan to:
- Relinquish – Committing to no land use change, ecosystem degradation or deforestation for the purpose of animal agriculture.
- Redirect – Actively transitioning away from animal based food systems to more sustainable plant-based food systems.
- Restore – Actively restoring key ecosystems and reforesting the Earth.
We are urgently calling on governments to join us in acting to avert further climate catastrophe caused by animal agriculture before we irreversibly surpass planetary tipping points. It’s not too late — we have the knowledge, tools and solutions to change our trajectory — we just need global action to implement them.
Peter Carter, Director Climate Emergency Institute
Professor Danny Harvey, Dept of Geography, U of Toronto
Professor Julia Steinberger, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, IPCC lead author AR6 WG3
Natasha Maria, BA(Hons) MSc
William Ripple, PhD. Distinguished Professor of Ecology, Oregon State University
Marc Bekoff, Ph.D. University of Colorado, Boulder, Professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
William B Orcutt, Capt. USAF Ret. BSEE University of Missouri, MSEE Air Force Institute of Technology
Lena Hannah Dogra, PhD Candidate in Physics, University of Cambridge
Didem Varol, RD
Diana Molina, LCG. (Genomic Sciences)
Cassandra Meisel Clarke, Msc. Biochemistry, MSc. Epidemiology
Gerard Wedderburn-Bisshop, B. Surv (Hons1), former Principal Scientist, Qld Natural Resources
Celia Deane-Drummond, MA (Cantab), PhD (Plant Science), PhD (Theology)
Dominik Linn, PhD Candidate in Industrial Mathematics (Fraunhofer ITWM and TUK)
Carolin Schellhorn, Ph.D.
Dr. Tushar Mehta
Dr. Amanda Boetzkes, Professor, Contemporary Art History and Theory, University of Guelph
Dr. Kurt Schmidinger, food scientist and geophysicist
Marc Bekoff, Ph.D.
Dr. Kurt Schmidinger, food scientist and geophysicist
Prof. Imre Szeman
Pamela Fergusson, RD, PhD
Dr. Thomas Brückmann, biologist & communication designer
Cameron Brick, PhD, University of Amsterdam
Nicholas Carter, ecologist, researcher and co-founder of PlantBasedData.org
Professor Alexandra Cook FLS
Dr. Charles Greene
Dr. Mark Terry
Dr Charlie Gardner
Dr A J Perrin
Professor James Renwick
Charles Ross DO
Brenda Dobia, PhD
Psychologist, Social Ecologist, Adjunct Fellow Wester Sydney University
Annika Linde, DVM, PhD, MPH. Western University of Health Sciences, California
David Crookall, PhD, Inter- Ocean-Climate School (IOCS), Ocean Open University
David Howden, PhD
Dr. Fatih Uenal, Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva
Jeroen Melief, PhD
Hon Prof Colin D Butler, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University
Jill Belch, Professor of Medicine and Lead, Tayside Air Pollution Research Project
Dr. Heather Davis
Dr. Yuri Engelhardt, Senior Lecturer, Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies
Cameron Roberts, PhD
Paul Berger, Associate Professor (Education), Lakehead University
Pere Pons, Associate Professor, University of Girona
André Bittar, Research Associate, King’s College London
Jans Henke, MSc
Zahra Kassam, MBBS, FRCP(C), FRCR(UK). Oncologist, University of Toronto, Canada
Dr. Anna Perreira
Dr Corey Lee Wrenn
Patrick Alberti, M.A.
Kathrin Herrmann, Johns Hopkins University Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing
Jane Hindley, Senior Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Essex
Dr Holly Sitters, Ecologist, The University of Melbourne
Bastiaan Rutjens, PhD
Didem Aydurmus, PhD (climate politics)
Dr. Kristiina Visakorpi
Carla Steffen, Veterinarian
Dr Pravakar Mohanty
Dr Anoop Shah
José Moisés Martín Carretero, Professor of Economics. Faculty of Science and Technology, University Camilo José Cela
Barton Rubenstein, PhD, Mother Earth Project cofounder
Jonathan M. White, PhD, Assoc. Professor of Sociology, Bentley University
John Packer, Associate Professor (Law), University of Ottawa
Dr. J. David Spence, Professor of Neurology and Clinical Pharmacology, Western University
Chloe Taylor, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Alberta
Laurie Adkin, Professor [Political Science and Environmental Studies] University of Alberta
Dr. Karim Zantout
Dr. Alexandra Isfahani-Hammond
Massimiliano Fabbricino, professore Ordinario Università di Napoli Federico II
David Krantz, MJ, MPA, MA, PhD(c)
Dr. Selena Couture, University of Alberta, Dept of Drama
Dr. Sascha Holzhauer, Systems Scientist, University of Kassel
Dr. Sarah Krotz
Disa Sauter, University of Amsterdam
Dr. Orr Karassin, Senior Lecturer, Public Policy, The Open Univeristy of Israel
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Dominique Bourg, Honorary Professor
Jesus Martinez-Garcia, University of Essex
Dr. Donald Drake
Clelia Cascella, Manchester University
Tracy Timmins, BSc (Hon), MSc
Dr. Jessica Claudio, Hixson, USA
Eleanor Georgiadis, Ph.D (Paleoceanography, biology), University of Oxford
Sena Crutchley, MA, CCC-SLP
Dr. Juan F. Masello, Justus Liebig University Giessen
Saverio Maviglia, MD, Boston, USA
Yagmur Ozdemir, Physics Engineer, Ankara University, Turkey
Samantha Miller, Biotech Scientist, Piedmont, United States
Shelly Ryan, MA, Middletown, USA
Dr. Fredric Litt, Sagamore Hills OH, USA
Dierck-Ekkehard Liebscher, Potsdam, Germany
Add your name
References
[1] World Economic Forum, “The Global Risks Report 2020,” Insight Report (World Economic Forum; Marsh & McLennan; Zurich Insurance Group; National University of Singapore; Oxford Martin School; Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, University of Pennsylvania, 2020)
[2] Wellesley, Happer and Froggat (2015), Changing Climate, Changing Diets: Pathways to Lower Meat Consumption [online]
Available at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2015/11/changing-climate-changing-diets-pathways-lower-meat-consumption
[Accessed 23rd September 2021]
[3] Xu, X., Sharma, P., Shu, S., Lin, T.S., Ciais, P., Tubiello, F.N., Smith, P., Campbell, N. and Jain, A.K., 2021. Global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods. Nature Food, 2(9), pp.724-732. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-021-00358-x
[4] Clark, M.A., Domingo, N.G., Colgan, K., Thakrar, S.K., Tilman, D., Lynch, J., Azevedo, I.L. and Hill, J.D., 2020. Global food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5 and 2 C climate change targets. Science, 370(6517), pp.705-708.
[5] IPCC sixth assessment – https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
[6] Bajželj, B., Richards, K.S., Allwood, J.M., Smith, P., Dennis, J.S., Curmi, E. and Gilligan, C.A., 2014. Importance of food-demand management for climate mitigation. Nature Climate Change, 4(10), pp.924-929. https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2353
[7] Plant-based diets could save millions of lives and dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/news/201603-plant-based-diets/
[8] Eating less meat essential to curb climate change, says report: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/03/eating-less-meat-curb-climate-change
[9] https://exponentialroadmap.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ExponentialRoadmap_1.5.1_216x279_08_AW_Download_Singles_Small.pdf
[10] Food system impacts on biodiversity loss: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/02/food-system-impacts-biodiversity-loss