Sydney Climate Emergency: Will the Lord Mayor Introduce a Vegan Food Policy?
Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, declared a climate emergency on behalf of the city and set a goal of reducing its emissions 70% by 2030. PETA responded by noting that one act would go a long way towards helping to reach that goal: introducing a policy of serving only vegan food at the city’s council premises and events.
In a letter to the lord mayor, PETA points out that although it’s admirable that the council will complete its transition to 100% renewable energy in 2020, it could immediately reduce its emissions even further – at no cost to ratepayers – by introducing a vegan food policy.
Urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to limit the catastrophic damage that’s being caused by climate change. Animal agriculture is responsible for a greater proportion of global greenhouse-gas emissions (14 to 18%) than the entire transportation sector combined (13.5%), and therefore, eliminating our consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy is the single most effective thing we can do to combat climate change.
The United Nations and leading scientists are calling for the reduction or elimination of animal-derived food consumption as a matter of urgency. Today, no one can offer any reasonable justification for continuing to support the production of animal-based foods, and PETA is calling on those in positions of power to lead by example.
