Vegan diets key to mitigating climate and biodiversity crisis says climate campaigner at the UN High Level Political Forum

Media Contacts:

• Ellen Dent, Executive Director, Animal Alliance Network, +1 (626) 722-8390, [email protected] 

• Anita Krajnc, Executive Director, Plant Based Treaty, +1 (416) 825-6080, [email protected] 

July 16, 2023: Plant Based Treaty campaigner Ellen Dent is joining the UN HLPF in New York, from Monday July 17th to Thursday July 20th to call on the UN and nation states to make a plant-based food transition a focal point of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Ellen Dent, who is attending as part of the Animal People delegation said, “We cannot meet our sustainability goals without shifting to a plant-based food system. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of methane, land use change, deforestation in the Amazon and species extinction; a plant-based food system would allow us to rewild more than 75% of farmland to restore biodiversity and absorb carbon.” 

Plant Based Treaty is campaigning for a global treaty to address food system impacts and calling for institutions to take action to introduce plant-based menus and defaults, provide public education and rewild open spaces.

Dent said, “Greenhouse gas emissions from the food system alone will breach the 1.5C target of the Paris Agreement; cities and institutions can play a key role in cutting emissions and improving the health of communities by switching to plant-based menus in city halls, schools, universities, care homes, prisons and at public events.”

Ellen Dent is available for interview during the UN HLPF and can be contacted at: +1 (626) 722-8390 • [email protected]  

Description from the High Level Political Forum Website: 

The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held from Monday, 10 July, to Wednesday, 19 July 2023, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council . This includes the three-day ministerial segment of the forum from Monday, 17 July, to Wednesday, 19 July 2023 as part of the High-level Segment of the Council. The last day of the High-level Segment of ECOSOC will be on Thursday, 20 July 2023.

The theme will be ” Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels ”.

In the forum, participants will be able to further discuss the effective and inclusive recovery measures to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and explore actionable policy guidance for the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs at all levels.

The HLPF in 2023, without prejudice to the integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the SDGs, will also review in-depth Goals 6 on clean water and sanitation, 7 on affordable and clean energy, 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, 11 on sustainable cities and communities, and 17 on partnerships for the Goals.

Following 39 presenters will carry out voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the forum: Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic, Comoros, Chile, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, European Union, Fiji, France, Guyana, Iceland, Ireland, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Maldives, Mongolia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, St Kitts & Nevis , Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, United Republic of Tanzania , Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia. Please click here for more information.

The HLPF in July will also support the mid-term review of the implementation of the SDGs and the preparations for the 2023 SDG Summit – the HLPF to be convened under the auspices of the General Assembly in September 2023.

The President of ECOSOC will prepare a summary to capture the key messages of the discussions. 

Background:

The Plant Based Treaty is modeled after the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and inspired by treaties that have addressed the threats of ozone layer depletion and nuclear weapons. The initiative has received support from 21 cities including Los Angeles, 100,000 individual endorsers, 5 Nobel laureates, IPCC scientists, more than 3000 NGOs, community groups and businesses.

The global movement is asking towns and cities to endorse the Plant Based Treaty to help pressure national governments to negotiate a global treaty that will:

• Halt the global expansion of deforestation attributed to animal agriculture.
• Incentivise a plant-based food system.
• Encourage public information campaigns about the benefits of plant-based foods.
• Free up land and waters to rewild, reforest, and restore the Earth’s oceans.
• Allow a just transition to more sustainable jobs, healthier people and a thriving planet.

For more information visit plantbasedtreaty.org