COP27 to host Pro-veg International

COP27, which is taking place this coming November in Egypt, will now feature a pavilion exclusively devoted to climate change and the food system. The Food4Climate panel will be run by growing non-profit organisation, Pro-Veg International.

Pro-Veg international call themselves a ‘food awareness’ organisation and are dedicated to halving the global consumption of meat by 2040. One of the co-founders, Tobias Leenaert, is the author of How to Create A Vegan World: A Pragmatic Approach. Whilst the other, Sebastian Joy, started the first world incubator devoted solely to vegan start-ups.

Their offices span 9 countries, with a diverse team to create educational campaigns on the need to reduce global consumption of animal products. They retain consultative status with ECOSOC, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and have received the UN’s ‘Momentum for Change’ Award.

COP26 was heavily criticised for extensive greenwashing and failure to augment change. Many of the attendees consumed meat and even flew in private jets.

The Food4Climate pavilion provides hope that the vegan agenda is pushing its way into serious discussions and implementation. But world governments are seeming to move at snail’s pace, as the environmental validity of the vegan diet was proved many years ago, with animal agriculture continuing to be one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions globally. A recent study in PLOS Climate, suggests a rapid transition to a plant-based food system should be at the ‘fore-front’ of strategizing how to reduce global emissions.

Article written by Aisling Geraghty- Australia