PETA U.K., McCartneys, Joaquin Phoenix, Others Urge COP26 to Adopt the ‘Plant Based Treaty’ to Avert Climate Catastrophe

For Immediate Release:
November 10, 2021

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

PETA U.K., longtime PETA supporter Sir Paul McCartney and his daughters Mary and Stella McCartney, actors Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, and Ela Gandhi (Mohandas Gandhi’s granddaughter) are urging the U.N.’s 2021 climate change conference (COP26) to adopt the Plant Based Treaty, an initiative designed to put food systems at the forefront of combating the climate crisis.

They join 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, urging them to adopt the Plant Based Treaty as a companion to the Paris Agreement.

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.”

“The U.N. itself acknowledges that a worldwide shift to vegan eating would mitigate the worst effects of climate change,” says PETA U.K. Vice President Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA U.K. 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.”

“Around the world, scientists, government representatives, faith leaders, and now celebrity voices are calling for a halt to the expansion of animal agriculture and deforestation, a shift to a plant-based food system, and reforestation and rewilding of land,” says Anita Krajnc, Plant Based Treaty global campaign coordinator. “Increasingly people are recognizing that meat, dairy, and egg consumption is driving carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions, the three major greenhouse gases—now we need COP26 delegates and other leaders to acknowledge it.”

PETA U.K. has also marched in COP26 protests in London and Glasgow, dropped a banner over the M8 motorway in Glasgow, and plastered ads on the sides of Glasgow buses that pass the conference and travel into the city center, urging people to “take personal responsibility” and go vegan for the planet.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.