“Animal agriculture is the leading cause of biodiversity loss, large-scale deforestation, soil degradation, and water depletion and it’s a leading cause of global warming and chemical pollution," said Tim Werner, science campaigner at Plant Based Treaty said at a press in Nairobi, Kenya.

Tim believes that animal agriculture must be handled promptly in order to help combat both climate change and other critical planetary boundaries.

"We need to address animal agriculture as soon as possible because addressing fossil fuels will only tackle climate change, not the other vital planetary boundaries.”

Tim Werner also addressed regenerative animal agriculture, pointing out that cow methane emissions result in a net increase of this potent greenhouse gas.

The animal agriculture business, according to Tim, likes to sell the story of how pastures bind more carbon with prolonged grazing.

"Basically this is correct, but this effect is very small and lessens over time. What usually is not taken into account are the emissions of the ruminants. Basically, carbon is transformed into grass and cows transform the grass to methane, which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. We need to stop animal farming altogether. Doing it differently is not a solution.”

Plant Based Treaty issued a position paper titled, 21 Cities Call a Global Plant Based Treaty, encouraging Bonn Climate Conference delegates to include a Plant Based Treaty in their agenda.

Earlier this week, 2,000 free vegan hot dogs were distributed to climate talks participants at the conference entrance on Friday, Saturday, and Monday. Lea de Zwart, the organizer of the Plant Based Treaty, joked about the positive response from climate talk delegates:

"Because of these hotdogs, it was so much easier for us to talk about the protein shift because people just had a positive experience with vegan food," stated Plant Based Treaty.

 “Because of these hotdogs it was so much easier for us to talk about the protein shift because people just had a positive experience with vegan food.”

“The world needs to follow the lead of New York City which has implemented major plant-based solutions over recent years to combat the climate crisis. They continue to introduce innovative ways to shift food systems from a reliance on animal agriculture, towards plant-based,” says Director of Communications, James O’Toole.

According to James, It is the obligation of the delegates to the Bonn climate summit to be like NYC Mayor Eric Adams and recognize the importance of food systems in tackling the climate catastrophe.

Participants at the press conference included; Maximilian Weiss - Plant Based Treaty - Germany, Campaigner and Scientific Adviser

Tim Werner - Plant Based Treaty - Germany, Campaigner, Esben Sloth - Director of Campaigns, World Animal Protection Denmark and  Erika Xananine Calvillo Ramírez - ProVeg International Youth Board, YOUNGO.

The Plant-Based Treaty has 3Rs and 39 comprehensive proposals for a global shift to a plant-based food system. It advocates for the negotiation of a worldwide treaty as well as local implementation at the municipal, school, university, hospital, business, and other local levels.

The Plant Based Treaty is modeled after the Non-Proliferation Treaty on Fossil Fuels and is inspired by treaties that addressed the risks of ozone depletion and nuclear weapons.

Since its inception in August 2021, the initiative has been supported by 100,000 individual endorsers, 21 cities including the Scottish Capital, Edinburgh, Los Angeles and Ahmedabad, 5 Nobel laureates, IPCC scientists, Sir Paul, Mary, and Stella McCartney, and more than 3,000 NGOs, community groups, and businesses, including the Oceanic Preservation Society and chapters of Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and Extinction Rebellion.