The Norwich City Council has voted in favor of a resolution urging the government to joint the Plant-Based Treaty.
Norwich is a city in England’s Norfolk County, with a population of around 376,000. The motion was brought by Councilmembers Alex Catt, and seconded by Councilmember Jamie Osborn, both members of the Green Party. The motion also includes efforts to improve the accessibility and availability of plant-based food across the city, including making sure plant-based options are available at council-run events and venues.
“The adoption of a Plant Based Treaty as a companion to the UNFCCC/Paris Agreement will put food systems at the heart of combating the climate crisis”, states the official website for the Plant Based Treaty. “The Treaty aims to halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture, to promote a shift to more healthy, sustainable plant-based diets and to actively reverse damage done to planetary functions, ecosystem services and biodiversity.”
Some of the other cities who have endorsed the treaty include Los Angeles, California, Boynton Beach, Florida, Bhuj City, India, the City of Burienos Aires, Argentina, DIdem in Turkey and Haywards Heath in the United Kingdom. In addition to cities endorsing the treaty, it’s been endorsed by over 900 business and over 900 organization, as well as over 60,000 individuals.
According to their website, the Plant Based Treaty has three core principles:
- Relinquish
No land use change, ecosystem degradation or deforestation for animal agriculture
- Redirect
An active transition away from animal-based food systems to plant-based systems
- Restore
Actively restoring key ecosystems, particularly restoring forests and rewilding landscapes
“Producing a kilo of beef creates, on average, 12 times more CO2 than a kilo of tofu or other soya-based proteins,” says the resolution passed by the Norwich council. “Meanwhile, producing a litre of dairy milk uses, on average, at least four times as much land as producing a litre of plant milk… As well as a smaller carbon footprint, eating more plant-based foods also reduces the land footprint of our diets and would improve UK food security and self-sufficiency, thereby making our diets more local.”
More information on the Plant Based Treaty can be found by clicking here.
