OIPA – International Organization for Animal Protection – togehter with more than 71,000 individuals, organizations, companies and cities, most recently Edinburgh, has decided to join the “The Plant Based Treaty“ initiative, endorsing a treaty designed to put food systems as key means of fighting the climate crisis and the environmental damages. The objective is to stop the global degradation of ecosystems caused, not only by fossil fuels, but largely by animal agriculture, thus promoting the transition to healthier and more sustainable plant-based systems and diets in an effort to safeguard and save our Planet.
The planet is clearly suffering, facing an irreversible climate crisis and unstoppable global warming, as well as biodiversity loss, large-scale deforestation, mass extinction of species, water depletion, land degradation and growth of ocean “dead zones”.
The responsibility falls on uncontrolled and harmful human activities, and turns out to be caused not only by fossil fuel industry, but largely by the livestock and fishing industry, which is why it is essential to intervene also on our food systems.
Intensive animal agriculture as well as intensive fishing, not only is ethically unacceptable, but is literally destroying the planet and its inhabitants, producing greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) and devastatingly high amount of toxic waste.
Animal agriculture is a major contributor to the climate crisis and is responsible for around 66% of all food’s annual emissions, contributing to deforestation and biodiversity loss.
The Plant Based Treaty has three core principles:
RELINQUISH the use and the conversion of land for animal agriculture, which leads to the destruction of ecosystems and uncontrolled deforestation
REDIRECT towards a plant-based food systems and a plant-based diet to replace animal-based food systems
RESTORE key degraded ecosystems and reforest our planet
To meet the goals set under the Paris Climate Agreement, adopted in 2015, which include the halt of fossil fuel emissions and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, local governments should negotiate an international treaty that introduces a major shift towards plant-based systems and plant-based diets in order to avoid a climate catastrophe with no return.
