New York City, NY, May 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On May 5, 2022, Compassion in World Farming submitted a petition to 10 Downing Street, calling on the Prime Minister to introduce policies that will reduce the quantity of meat and dairy consumed in order to help drive down rising global temperatures.
Over 53,000 people signed the petition urging leaders of the top meat-eating countries and regions to implement change and shrink their country’s consumption of meat and dairy products, in order to reduce greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emitted by the livestock sector. As well as delivering the petition in-person, to No.10, it has also been sent to the leaders of America, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, the EU, South Korea, China, South Africa and Japan.
86 billion animals are farmed each year, with the majority being kept in intensive systems. Yet, despite last year’s COP26 recognizing that drastic action is needed to avert a climate catastrophe, the fact that the livestock sector is responsible for 14.5% of global GHGs – more than all direct emissions from the transport sector – animal farming is still largely absent from the policy solutions for addressing this global problem. The important role that livestock plays in the climate emergency is highlighted in Compassion’s report – Breaking the Taboo: Why Diets Must Change to Tackle the Climate Emergency – which shows to avert a climate catastrophe, global meat and dairy consumption must be dramatically reduced.
Governments must act now to secure a better future for people, farmed animals, wildlife, and the planet.
“Our global leaders cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand,” says Ben Williamson, U.S. Executive Director at Compassion in World Farming. “Livestock emissions play a significant role in the current climate emergency, yet this has been virtually overlooked by world leaders.
“We must drastically reduce our total global meat and dairy consumption, so we’ve addressed our petition to leaders of top meat-consuming countries or regions. It’s critical these world leaders act to bring forward a meat and dairy reduction and support a shift to nature-friendly, higher welfare farming, as a matter of urgency.
“Factory farming is significantly contributing to one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time and leaders of those countries where meat consumption is particularly high, must play their part to ensure we meet the Paris Agreement targets. We must turn up the heat on world leaders to keep the global temperature down!”
About Compassion in World Farming:
Compassion in World Farming is a global farmed animal protection organization that campaigns peacefully to end factory farming and replace it with a food system that is compassionate, fair, and sustainable for all. The charity is dedicated to reforming a broken food and farming system and introducing a more humane, fair, and sustainable one. Compassion engages with the world’s leading food companies to create and adopt meaningful animal welfare policies while tracking progress against those commitments to ensure compliance. It works tirelessly towards a better future for animals, people, and the planet by educating concerned consumers and supporting meaningful public policy. With headquarters in the UK, we have offices across Europe, in the US, China and South Africa. To find out more about Compassion in World Farming or join the movement, visit: ciwf.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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