A U.N. agency will deliver an edict Thursday telling prosperous Western countries to save the planet by stopping meat consumption and embracing vegan alternatives.
The U.N’.s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) has foreshadowed publication of a road map with global food recommendations to be delivered during its two-week long COP28 climate summit in Dubai.
FAO’s first-of-its-kind document will tell wealthy nations that “over-consume meat” to limit their intake as part of a broader global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by embracing alternative sources of protein, Bloomberg reports.
Plant-based diets are being urged as part of a global push to ditch meat across a multitude of government and non-government authorities.
Meanwhile developing countries will need to improve their livestock farming methods to align with global agrifood industry standards as dictated by the Rome-based U.N. agency,
“The failure of leading meat and dairy companies to reduce emissions underlines the urgent need for more policy focus on the food and agriculture sector,” Jeremy Coller, the chair and founder of the FAIRR Initiative, an investor network that works with financial institutions to promote climate-friendly agriculture worldwide, said in a recent statement cited by Fox News.
He went on to say the time has come for an end to methane emissions associated with animal farming.
Protesters hold placards describing the dangers posed by meat to the environment, climate and wildlife, during a rally in Parliament Square, London, ahead of COP28 calling on the government to shift to a plant-based diet as part of their climate commitments. (Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty)
File/This photograph on April 21, 2021 shows staff members preparing plant-based food samples during the launch of ADM’s Plant-based Innovation Lab in Singapore. From faux-chicken satay to imitation beef rendang, a high-tech Singapore laboratory is replicating popular Asian dishes with plant-based meat alternatives. (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“Food system emissions deserve a place at the top of the table, alongside energy and transport, as they represent an estimated third of greenhouse gas emissions and 40% of methane,” he continued.
“Investors hope the first-ever publication of a food and agriculture road map at COP28 this month will catalyze the transition to 1.5 degrees and a more sustainable food system.”
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has also been at the forefront of the meat-free future movement, arguing people should opt for more “climate beneficial foods” such as algae, seaweed and cacti while turning away from meat.
The COP28 summit will have a Food, Agriculture and Water Day on Dec. 10, a first-ever day dedicated to food systems, which encompass anything from how food is grown, processed, distributed, consumed or thrown away.
Catering for the elite COP 28 gathering will be two-thirds plant-based.
Organizers are expecting more than 70,000 people to descend on Dubai’s Expo City for COP 28: activists, billionaires, presidents, Indigenous leaders, Hollywood entertainers, business executives, monarchs and diplomats flying in from every corner of the world to voice their shared concern over the planet’s future.
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