Local activists will join others in 100 cities around the world Tuesday in a rally calling for the endorsement of the Plant Based Treaty.
The rally takes place from noon to 1 p.m. in Market Square.
Organizers say the rally is "an initiative to combat climate change, and ask the City of Guelph to endorse the Plant Based Treaty to address environmental harm caused by animal agriculture and promote a shift to healthier, more sustainable plant-based diets."
The Plant Based Treaty is a landmark international treaty and first of its kind to put food systems at the heart of combating the climate crisis. "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."The Plant Based Treaty is designed to put food systems at the forefront of combating the climate crisis. Modelled on the popular Fossil Fuel Treaty, the Plant Based Treaty aims to halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture.
"We are facing a climate catastrophe and according to the UN IPCC’s 6th assessment report (2021) we only have less than five years at best to turn things around … otherwise we are looking at an apocalyptic scenario," say organizers in a press release.
"We are urging scientists, individuals, groups, businesses, and cities to endorse this urgent call to action, and put pressure on national governments to negotiate an international Plant Based Treaty."
The Plant Based Treaty demands are:
1. RELINQUISH: No land use change, ecosystem degradation or deforestation for animal agriculture.
2. REDIRECT: An active transition away from animal-based food systems to plant-based systems.
3. RESTORE: Actively restore key ecosystems, particularly restoring forests and re-wilding landscapes
