Environmental and Animal Activists Plan Actions at UN's Annual Climate Change Conference COP26

North American activists are joining global efforts at the United Nations' 26th annual climate change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, held now through November 12. Environmental and animal activists from around the world are mounting a campaign for a Plant Based Treaty, calling on governments to put food systems at the forefront of tackling the climate crisis.  

Representatives from thePlant Based Treaty will be launching and taking part in various actions and events in Glasgow, listed below (all times local/GMT), and are available to discuss the environmental harm caused by animal agriculture and the need to promote a shift to healthier, more sustainable plant-based diets.   

  • Slaughterhouse Vigil, November 3, 9:00-11:00 a.m. at Sandyford Abattoir Co, Paisley 

World leaders, Glasgow MPs, and all COP26 attendees are invited to bear witness to the suffering and exploitation of cows and the environmental devastation caused by animal agriculture. 

  • School Strike, November 5, citywide 

Plant Based Treaty will join other organizations to form a 'bloc' dedicated to raising the issues of animal agriculture and climate change at Greta Thunberg's School Strike and march. 

PBT campaigners Stephanie Cabovianco and Morgan Janowicz join a panel to cover the key points of the Treaty. 

  • COP26 March, November 6, 11:30 a.m. at An Clachan Cafe, Kelvingrove Park 

Treaty supporters will lead a march on Glasgow's Global Day of Action  

to raise the issues of animal agriculture and climate change. PBT will hoist a giant 15-foot inflatable cow. 

  • Nature first: Biodiversity, ecosystems, and the climate crisis, November 6, 5:00-6:00 p.m. at The Ferry, Glasgow 

A panel of experts including PBT's Stephanie Cabovianco will discuss the impact of farming, agriculture, food delivery, and consumption on the climate crisis. 

  • Light Show, Dance, Food Giveaway: daily October 31-November 10, 5-8 p.m., Glasgow City Centre 

light show animation is projected onto local buildings accompanied by music from Grammy award-winning duo Rodrigo y GabrielaVisitors and kids encouraged to join in. 

"Supporters of the Plant Based Treaty from around the world will be impossible to ignore as world leaders meet in Glasgow for COP26," said Anita Krajnc, Global Campaign Coordinator for the Plant Based Treaty. "We demand that governments take urgent action to reduce the impact of animal agriculture and prioritize plant-based diets as a means to reverse global climate collapse."  

The Plant Based Treaty seeks to halt the expansion of animal agriculture and deforestation, incentivize a shift to a plant-based food system by redirecting subsidies, taxes and public information campaigns, along with reforestation and rewilding of land. 

The Treaty urges leaders to negotiate a global agreement around the following three principles: 

  • Relinquish: No land use change, ecosystem degradation or deforestation for the purposes of animal agriculture 
  • Redirect: An active transition away from animal-based agricultural systems to plant-based food systems 
  • Restore: Restore key ecosystems and reforest the Earth 

Already, multiple cities and individual political leaders have endorsed the Plant Based Treaty. Grassroots momentum is building for nations to endorse the treaty by 2023, ahead of the Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement (GST). Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries entered into a pact to limit global warming to below 2 °C - and preferably 1.5 °C - above pre-industrial levels. While reducing the use of fossil fuels is an important way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, alone it is not enough to meet this legally binding target.  

Plant Based Treaty | https://plantbasedtreaty.org/