“As COP27 gets under way, our planet is sending a distress signal,” says UN chief António Guterres.
It’s been a year since COP26 was held in Glasgow; the climate conference many believed to be the most important climate conference since COP21, when the Paris agreement was made.
But after much anticipation for swift and meaningful action from world leaders, many were left disappointed, deflated and even hopeless after they failed to take sufficient action to safeguard the planet from climate catastrophe. COP26 was widely regarded ‘a failure for the planet’.
In the year since COP26 we have seen weather disasters, record heat waves, droughts, devastating flooding; a clear escalation in the climate crisis.
Scientists are now saying we will miss the 1.5 degrees target set during the Paris agreement, after which the IPCC predicts we will see extreme heatwaves, oceans rising, and the destruction of 70 to 90 per cent of coral reefs.
So this year, one year after the failures of COP26, and after a powerful opening by UN chief António Guterres, we are poised and ready for those in power to take decisive action and make impactful change. It’s now or never.
More than 120 leaders are due to attend COP27 in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt for 2 weeks of climate talks. But will the unspoken topic of the world’s unsustainable food systems finally be on the table for discussion?
Although food systems are responsible for at least 25 percent of all emissions, it was addressed in less than 0.1 percent of discussions at COP26.
In fact, ‘animal agriculture is responsible for around 66% of all food’s annual emissions, yet provides only 18% of calories’, Johan Falk, Senior Innovation Fellow at Stockholm Resilience Centre 2018. If everyone shifted to a plant-based diet, we would reduce global land use for agriculture by 75%.*
The existence of the Food Systems Pavillion at COP27 is an encouraging start. ProVeg and its partners, including Plant Based Treaty, will be featured in the pavillion with the aim to encourage UN member states to transition towards a plant-focused food system. ProVeg will be focussing on the role that food production, particularly animal agriculture, plays in the climate crisis. It will be showcasing a ‘Diet Change Not Climate Change’ campaign banner throughout the COP27 event.
Plant-Based Treaty warns “Celebrate progress with caution”
The existence of the Food Systems Pavillion at COP27 is an encouraging start. ProVeg and its partners, including Plant Based Treaty, will be featured in the pavillion with the aim to encourage UN member states to transition towards a plant-focused food system. ProVeg will be focussing on the role that food production, particularly animal agriculture, plays in the climate crisis. It will be showcasing a ‘Diet Change Not Climate Change’ campaign banner throughout the COP27 event.
So now we wait. Will world leaders rise to the occasion and put us on the path towards a plant-based future that might just have the power to save our planet? Or will COP27 fail to deliver this vital life raft in the 11th hour?
Image Source: AL Jazeera [Henry Nicholls/Reuters]
