C OP27 An exercise in excluding the obvious

Temperature targets and vegan talks taken off the table

As with COP15, the UN Secretary-General pulled no punches in opening the COP27 climate conference in Egypt this November Over a two-week period, world leaders supposedly discussed the most profound issues – whether we secure a liveable and just future for all, or whether we set the world on a path to ecological and societal destruction

For the first time at a COP conference, a Food Systems Pavilion was opened and, initially, it seemed that the tide could be turning and countries were finally acknowledging the role that agriculture – and in particular animal agriculture – plays in climate breakdown. But despite stark warnings from across the world, that it’s now or never for meaningful action, COP27 failed. Its conclusions fell disastrously short in combating the climate crisis

Lingering hopes of a political will to limit warming to under 1 5ºC above preindustrial levels were dashed

Fossil fuels are still on the world’s agenda; talks on the detrimental impacts of animal agriculture were slim; and discussions on essential dietary change were left off the table completely As animal agriculture is responsible for around 20 per cent of the world’s emissions, that omission was deadly

Insufficient Pledges

This failure doesn’t come as much of a surprise Just prior to the talks, a UN Climate Change report highlighted that all the climate pledges from the Paris Agreement were insufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1 5ºC, beyond which we will be tipped into catastrophic and potentially irreversible climate impacts. As things stand, we are on track to hit around 2 5ºC warming by the end of the century.

International think tank Chatham House found that out of the 193 signatories to the Paris Agreement, only 12 nations mention emissions from farmed animals, two acknowledge dietary change and none refers to a reduction in livestock production In fact, the report found that since 1992, global production of animal products has increased and will continue rising, “increasing the likelihood of further loss of pristine habitats and carbon sinks, particularly in tropical areas ”

Experts stress that by 2030, global emissions must be halved – this cannot be achieved with the continued growth of meat, dairy, fish and egg production

Meat And Dairy Off The Agenda

It seems that any move towards a vegan diet is off the agenda for world governments Instead, we have ‘adaptive solutions’ that support continued livestock production through such things as feed additives that make farmed animals less gassy or investing in absurd technology to captures cows’ methane emissions

Given that methane traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, if governments really want to tackle the climate crisis seriously, ending meat and dairy production is the only way forward

In the draft COP27 text, there is no direct reference to animal agriculture and it mentions phasing down coal power rather than all fossil fuels

The declaration does note “the importance of ensuring integrity of all ecosystems, including forests, oceans and the cryosphere, and the protection of biodiversity, recognised by some cultures as Mother Earth ”

As animal agriculture is the main driver of habitat and biodiversity loss, none of this can be achieved if we don’t address what we eat. Given that a vegan diet is the single biggest way to reduce anyone’s impact on planet Earth, animal agriculture must be given a key place on the final declaration

To add insult to injury – meat and dairy foods were served at the conference!

UN Secretary-General, António Guterres

Climate Crisis Is A Human Rights Issue

The climate crisis is a human rights issue and by refusing to break ties with cruel livestock industries, government leaders are also endangering people’s lives In the IPCC’s latest Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability report, it estimated that already 3 5 billion people are highly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis.

One good measure agreed is the Loss and Damage fund, which promises to finance the rebuilding of poorer, vulnerable countries that have contributed least to the crisis yet are being hit the worst by it But by failing to acknowledge all the systems that are driving the global crisis, and working towards dismantling them, we will continue to fall short in combatting the climate crisis

Time To Take Action

Reports show that we can still meet the target of 1 5ºC but it’s meaningless without targeting the most polluting industries – and COP27 has shown that’s not happening Viva! will continue with our awareness campaigns and support people-powered action to create change Together we will fight to build a better tomorrow for our planet and humanity, even if governments aren’t willing to do so.