Have you heard of the Plant Based Treaty?

Moby, Paul McCartney, Joaquin Phoenix, Alicia Silverstone, and Paul Wesley have all signed it. Among the other 60,000 signatories are scientists, organizations, businesses, and local city governments from across the globe.

This global initiative was inspired by similar actions such as the Fossil Fuel Treaty and the Paris Agreement, all of which aim to address the global climate crisis. The Plant Based Treaty officially launched on August 31, 2021 at city halls in more than 50 cities across the globe.

The Plant Based Treaty highlights the need to change food systems as a way of tackling the problem of climate change. It targets animal agriculture as the cause of the destruction of the earth’s ecosystems.

In the past few years, the impact of animal agriculture on climate change has finally been acknowledged. People have woken up to the fact that this is one of the biggest polluters of the world’s natural resources, causing greenhouse gas emissions, and the contamination of water and air. We also now know that meat production is the single biggest cause of deforestation globally, which leads to land degradation and the loss of biodiversity.

The Plant Based Treaty is a grassroots campaign put into motion by Canadian Anita Krajnc and Israeli Yael Hanna who are its global campaign coordinators. Their work is supported by regional and country campaign coordinators across the globe, as well as a team of youth ambassadors.

The treaty is not legally binding, but endorsing it is accepting that the globe is facing a climate emergency and that change is needed.

A move towards plant-based climate solutions
The ultimate goal of the Plant Based Treaty is to reverse the environmental destruction caused by animal agriculture and animal-based food industries.

As a solution, it advocates a switch to plant-based foods and more sustainable food systems by outlining three main demands: relinquish, redirect, and restore. There are three parts of the treaty, each corresponding to one of these three demands.

Demand 1: Relinquish – Stop the problem increasing

The first demand is an appeal to stop the clearing or conversion of forests or land for animal agriculture, and a call for no new construction or expansion of animal farms, fish farms or slaughterhouses.

Demand 2:  Redirect – Eliminate the driving forces behind the problem

The second demand is for a transition away from animal-based food systems to plant-based ones, the promotion of plant-based foods, and making food security a priority. It also makes policy suggestions, some of which include the introduction of a meat tax to fund the restoration of land decimated by animal agriculture, subsidies for fruits, vegetables and plant-based foods, an end to government subsidies for meat, dairy and egg advertising, and support and training for people working in animal agriculture so that they can transition to plant-based systems.

Demand 3: Restore – Actively healing the problem while building resilience and mitigating climate change

This demand envisages a restoration of ecosystems and reforesting by planting native tree species,

making Marine Protected Areas no fishing zones, and planting carbon absorbers in the oceans such as seagrass beds, mangroves, peat bogs, etc. Meanwhile in cities, the call is for the planting of trees and wildflowers, creating wildlife corridors and green rooftops, providing access to healthy food, and the promotion of community food gardens and allotments.