What Are PETA, Joaquin Phoenix, Stella McCartney and Sir Paul McCartney Telling COP26?

PETA, our long-time supporter Sir Paul McCartney, his daughters Mary and Stella McCartney, actors Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, and Ela Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter) are urging the UN’s 2021 climate change conference (COP26) to adopt the Plant Based Treaty, an initiative designed to put food systems at the forefront of combatting the climate crisis.

As a companion to the Paris Agreement, the Plant Based Treaty is our best chance at taking action to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.

We join writer George Monbiot, Moby, actors Peter Egan (Downton Abbey, Unforgotten) and Jerome Flynn (London’s Burning, Game of Thrones), and eminent scientists and interfaith leaders in issuing a strong message to COP26 delegates today: adopt the Plant Based Treaty for the sake of our planet.

We and the Plant Based Treaty are pushing the vital message that the easiest, most effective thing we can all do for the planet is dump meat, eggs, and dairy.

And we’re not alone: the McCartney family – who launched the Meat Free Monday campaign in 2009 – says, “We believe in justice for animals, the environment and people. That’s why we support the Plant Based Treaty and urge individuals and governments to sign it.”

Egan says, “If we don’t reduce methane emissions, we will lose our planet. Animal agriculture is one of the key contributors to methane and other greenhouse gas emissions, so we need to move to plant-based solutions. This is why I support the Plant Based Treaty.”

George Monbiot says, “I’m backing the Plant Based Treaty, which urges leaders to recognise animal agriculture as a leading cause of climate change and promotes a shift towards sustainable vegan meals. We must all do our part to protect the planet – and cutting out meat, eggs, and dairy is one of the easiest and most effective ways to help. Animal agriculture is responsible for sky-high carbon emissions as well as the suffering of billions of animals each year. If COP26 organisers are serious about preventing an imminent climate catastrophe, they must address the elephant in the room: so long as we raise and kill animals for food, we’re putting our future at risk.”

The UN states that urgent and unprecedented changes – including a shift to vegan eating – are needed to limit the catastrophic damage caused by climate change.

Sheep and cows release huge volumes of methane – a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere – which contributes to climate change.

Producing fertiliser for crops to feed animals, petrol to run the lorries that take them to slaughter, and electricity to freeze their carcasses also requires massive amounts of fossil fuels, which results in the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.

Scientists agree that plant-based foods have a smaller carbon footprint than their animal-derived equivalents, so the easiest way to help slow down climate change is to go vegan.