2022 Press Releases

Global veganiszation now a survival imperative warns IPCC expert

5 June 2022

Media Contact(s):
Nilgun Engin: +90 532 437 51 33, [email protected]
Lea Goodett: +31 6 100 550 80, [email protected]
Yael Hanna: +972 54-326-5941, [email protected] 

Media Files:
Images and video: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1i8yGZpbTy9xFatFyfGnWsfSIqtYy634m
Position paper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hqivx8M86niwP4IpEJLFHynK7dO8UZoH   

Fresh from the launch of the Plant Based Treaty at COP26 in Glasgow where world wide attention was garnered following an endorsement from Sir Paul, Stella and Mary McCartney, PBT activists will be in Bonn for the climate conference to present “Appetite for a Plant Based Treaty. The IPCC repeatedly demonstrates that a vegan diet is the optimal diet to drastically reduce food related emissions” and urge delegates to begin negotiations for a Plant Based Treaty. 

Plant Based Treaty climate campaigners will be bringing a giant inflatable cow to the conference entrance along with a food truck distributing vegan sausages to delegates. 

Events and photo opportunities:

    1. Plant Based Sausage Giveaway along with a giant inflatable cow, outside the Bonn Convention Center, from our Plant Based Treaty Food truck, on Thursday 9th June between 11:00 AM to 18:00 CET (Contact Lea for for additional details)

    2. Plant Based Sausage Giveaway along the Rhine on Thursday 9th June between 19:00 to 21:00 CET from our Plant Based Treaty Food Truck. (Contact Lea for location and additional details)

       

    3. Chalking at the front entrance of the Bonn Convention Center with vegan climate messaging on Friday 10th June at 5:30 CET

    4. Animal vigil outside a slaughterhouse in Cologne on Friday 10th June at 07:00 CET to bear witness to animals on their way to slaughter and highlight the connection between animal exploitation and the climate crisis. (Contact Yael for location and additional details)

       

    5. Outdoor Screening of climate documentaries on large screens in downtown Bonn on Friday 10th June at 19:30 CET (Contact Lea or Yael for location and additional details)

    6. Plant Based Treaty will be responding to the incoming COP27 Presidency event on Agriculture Monday, 13 June 2022, 13:30-15:00 CET, Bonn Convention Center, Room Addis Abeba

The position paper has been endorsed by 100 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.

    1. The vegan diet is the optimal diet to fight climate change and could, according to the IPCC (2020) Special Report on Land Use, save almost 8 Gigatons Equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions plus more than double if we take in account reforestation of lands currently used to farm animals.

       

    2. Animal agriculture is responsible for 32% of human-caused methane. Recently, 112 countries signed a Global Methane Pledge to cut emissions by 30% by 2030. The Global Methane Pledge falls short of the 45% cuts needed; the states that have made pledges represent only about half of human caused emissions. In addition, the pledge is voluntary and unenforceable, and is yet to offer a road map to meet targets.

    3. The Declaration on Forests and Land Use launched at COP26 has been signed by 141 countries. Since the declaration, deforestation attributed to animal agriculture has continued unabated. Destruction of the Amazon in the first four months of 2022 hit records with 1,954 square km deforested, an increase of 69% compared to the same period of 2021, clearing an area more than double the size of New York City. According to research by Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek, globally almost 80% of farmland is used to rear animals yet produces just 18% of global calories. Plant Based Treaty calls for a just transition to a plant-based food system with the support of government through taxes and subsidies in order to reforest reclaimed animal agricultural land.

Dr Peter Carter, IPCC expert reviewer and Director of the Climate Emergency Institute who has endorsed the Plant Based Treaty position paper, said, “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.”

Anna Spurek from Green REV Institute and Future Food 4 Climate said, “In a time of war in Ukraine, growing social inequality and climate threats, we have many questions. The answer to food security, food justice, biodiversity restoration and climate peace is the Plant Based Treaty. This answer is ready and waiting for courageous decision-makers who are able to think in terms of the future and not in terms of office.”

Courtney Vail, Campaign Director at Oceanic Preservation Society, said, “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. Together, we can choose a more humane and sustainable future.”

David Michel, Connecticut State Representative who has endorsed the Plant Based Treaty position paper and plans to introduce a bill to address emissions from food in Connecticut said, “Our future on this planet is at stake, we can no longer ignore the science, the logic and the need to protect all ecosystems and biodiversity, it is time to clean things up and move to a Healthy, Compassionate and safe future.”

Jane Velez-Mitchell, television journalist, author and President of UnChained TV, said,  “The Plant Based Treaty is a thoughtful project that offers effective and obtainable solutions to the worst crisis humankind has ever faced: the fast approach of an unlivable planet. Let’s try it because what the “powers that be” are doing now is not working. And, the clock is ticking.”

Background

There are growing calls for a Plant Based Treaty from a coalition of 750 groups, 600 businesses, 15 cities, and 40,000 individuals, including IPCC expert reviewers, Nobel Laureates, and over a hundred politicians all endorsing this call to action to put pressure on national governments to negotiate an international Plant Based Treaty.

The Plant Based Treaty has three core principles: Relinquish the expansion of animal agriculture, Redirect policies favoring a plant-based food system and Restore ecosystems and reforest the Earth.

www.plantbasedtreaty.org