COP28 and the big cow in the room: The need for more plant-based diets

Despite increasing scientific evidence that agriculture is a central issue in climate change, this topic continued to be peripheral in United Nations (UN) COP discussions until COP28 this year. For the first time, the COP Presidency placed agriculture on the table of negotiations with the aim of integrating food systems to achieve the 1.5 ºC target. For an entire day, political leaders, the private sector, non-profit environmental organizations, activists, and scientists met at the Food4Climate Pavillion to establish a transition path toward resilient food production and consumption systems.  

These conversations led to the development of the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action which was endorsed by 134 States. A great achievement so far! The declaration aims to revise and craft national agricultural policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), manage water and resources, improve productivity efficiency, address socioeconomic disparities, improve ecosystems and animal health, and include local and indigenous voices, among others. It also seeks to scale up adaptation strategies for farmers and agriculture businesses to ensure food security while supporting science-based innovations in the sector.  

However, the mention of food systems was evaded in the latest draft of the Global Stocktake, a text that will define the final outcomes of COP28. This text accompanies the 2015 Paris Convention, and unlike the latter, it is not politically binding. Critics have highlighted the aspect of its non-binding character as well as the fact that it does not include the role of fossil fuels in the agricultural industry. “It is a glaring omission”, said Clement Metivier on X, a climate expert at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in the UK who attended the event.  

The mention of food system was evaded in the latest draft of the Global Stocktake

Food stakeholders also raised their concerns. This included the urgent need to translate those agricultural political commitments into concrete actions. As Marie Cosquer, an analyst at the NGO Action Against Hunger, noted: “It’s urgent but unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any political will behind the issue. We know the solutions. We just need to implement the principles of agroecology and increase public funding to support food producers”  

Cosquer’s sentiment rings true, as a recent report on finance flows for sustainable agriculture shows that smallholders receive 0.3% of international climate finance from both public and private funds.  

The big cow in the room 

It is irrefutable that the food system, and particularly animal agriculture, is one of the major contributors to human-induced climate change and affects all nine planetary boundaries. The agricultural industrial complex itself is responsible for around one-quarter of GHGs, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). At the same time, the expansion of the agricultural frontier — mainly for cattle and animal feed — has destroyed large parts of important biodiverse ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest.  

With livestock accounting for about half of the agricultural emissions, the Food4Climate Pavillion negotiations were supported by a historical coalition of organizations that advocate for plant-based food systems and animal rights. This included ProVeg, World Animal Protection, Impossible Foods, the International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences, Compassion in World Farming, and support of the Plant-Based Treaty. Their claims revolved around the ‘big cow in the room’ and the urgent need to transition from animal-based food systems toward plant-based ones.  

The current food system is one of the major contributors to human-induced climate change

On the one hand, plant-based food systems advocates celebrated that for the first time two-thirds of the meals served at a COP summit were vegan or vegetarian. This achievement is the result of the insisting requests in previous editions and an open letter sent to the COP Presidency months ago by the youth-led climate group YOUNGO and more than 140 organizations. Catering plant-based meals minimized the carbon footprint while increasing awareness among the attendees.  

On the other hand, plant-based food advocates criticized the presence of 120 lobbyist representatives from the meat and dairy industry, which triples the numbers from last year. This criticism holds validity and raises questions. While their presence as actors contributing to the climate crisis is important in negotiations, we need to question their motives. Ahead of the summit, The Guardian and Desmog shared a report based on leaked files. It revealed the dark intentions of these lobbyist and ‘greenwashing’ plans for COP28. The documents, mainly sponsored by the Global Meat Alliance, presented supposed ‘science-based’ evidence of ‘sustainable meat’, as well as the benefits meat and dairy have for the planet and human health. Their participation and openness to transform the current degenerative food system remains unclear.  

According to the Food Administration Organization (FAO), 32% of global human-induced methane emissions come from ruminants such as cattle, sheep, and buffalos. Methane is considered a powerful GHG that has a 28-36 times higher global warming potential compared to carbon dioxide in a 100 years period. Considering this, we might want to ask whether this was discussed at COP28 hosted by Dubai. 

The answer is yes! In fact, a couple of days before the climate summit finished, FAO — in line with its commitment to the food systems — launched a roadmap to eradicate hunger within the 1.5 ºC target. While this hints at a promising and hopeful action, the ‘roadmap’ suggests that “the livestock sector requires intensified productivity via improved genetics and feeding practices, aiming to reduce resource usage.” 

This roadmap mentions plant-based foods only once. While doing so, it steers away from highlighting the importance of plant-based foods for the earth’s, human and non-human health, through the following ill-informed statement: “... to avoid undesired effects, such as organic plant-based meat alternative products that could not benefit from fortification and will have nutritional deficiencies but may be unknowingly purchased by consumers who do not perceive the disadvantages.” 

Around about the same time, the Rome based FAO published a document titled Pathways towards lower emissions in which the organization shares a supposed global assessment of GHGs and mitigation options from livestock agrifood systems. To little surprise, the document emphasizes that enhancing livestock production systems could have positive effects on emission targets. They claim that if the system were to be enhanced in terms of productivity and efficiency throughout the production chain, it would reduce emissions, promote sustainability and mitigate the environmental impact of the livestock sector.  

In addition, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, was asked on Sunday December 10 about the importance of reducing meat consumption as a climate action. According to the reporters he answered: “I don’t hear much about that,” ... “I did hear about the important role that strategies for methane reduction could play in making the current livestock industry more sustainable.”  

Livestock has not been sustainable, and it probably won’t be for a long time to come

I want to urge those reading this article to ask themselves: What is going on here?. If we look closer, livestock has not been sustainable, and it probably won’t be for a long time to come. First, as I have highlighted before, there is ample scientific evidence that a balanced plant-based diet is more sustainable and beneficial for human health. As noted in the graph below published by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) assessment from 2023, a plant-based diet has the highest GHGs mitigation potential among others.  

Similarly a study by Oxford University researchers illustrates the great impact that animal-based foods (beef, dairy, poultry) have in terms of emissions, land-use change, and resource usage in comparison to plant-based foods/diets (soy, peanuts, peas). On top of this, a recent study published in Nature Communications shows that plant-based foods can have a significant contribution in achieving land restoration and biodiversity conservation goals.  

Second, numerous medical studies have demonstrated the health benefits of plant-based diets in comparison to the animal-based counterparts. Animal-based foods and especially meat is associated with diverse types of cancers, coronary diseases, antibiotic resistance, and diabetes type II. In fact, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has labelled meat as carcinogenic to humans. A meta-analysis published in 2022 by the National Library of Medicine corroborates these claims which are also supported by extensive research from the Lancet Committee, publications lead by Oxford University and Harvard University researchers, and paradoxically the World Health Organization of the UN.  

One might question the paradoxical statements and solutions portrayed by the United Nations in this regard. It seems that even though there is strong scientific evidence that animal agriculture is depleting valuable resources, degrading land, and affecting human health, the solution is to increase its production. Meanwhile, neglecting and ignoring the positive effect that plant-based diets offer. Why?  

A comment on regenerative agriculture

Within the discourse around ‘sustainable meat’ one can find embedded the so-called regenerative agriculture and silvopasture methods. These emerging agricultural techniques aim to restore soil health, sequester GHGs, and increase biodiversity by, for example, integrating plantations with grazing livestock and trees. In doing so, ecological functions and biogeochemical cycles could be restored while increasing biodiversity and resilience. A leading specialist on this topic has been Allan Savory who coined the term ‘Holistic Management’.  

In face of the increasing adoption of regenerative sustainability even from multinational corporations such as Nestlé, Danone, and Bayer, COP28 conceived the Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes. By accelerating investments and innovations, this multistakeholder initiative, led by the COP Presidency, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), aims to scale up the adoption of regenerative agricultural systems. Its purpose is to transition 160 million hectares in hands of 3,6 million farmers towards regenerative agriculture with an initial investment of USD $2.2Bn.  

This initiative is positive for the environment considering the actual state of global soil health due to erosion and excessive fertilizer usage. Researchers have shown that transitioning towards regenerative food systems could benefit the soil, biodiversity, and income of farmers. More research in this regard is needed, especially in relation to livestock and regenerative agriculture.  

Consuming meat and dairy on today’s scale is not sustainable, even through regenerative methods

It is largely acknowledged that consuming meat and dairy on the scale that we do today, even through regenerative methods, is not that sustainable. For instance, a comprehensive study on grass-fed livestock notes that under certain circumstances it is possible to mitigate GHGs. However, better grazing via carbon sequestration does not offer a substantial sequestration opportunity in addressing the critical state of the earth. Global grasslands already contain large amounts of carbon which limits the potential sequestration from livestock. At the same time this carbon could be easily released to the atmosphere. In other words, even if grazing livestock removes a percentage of emissions, it would still be a net contributor of GHG. Therefore, it’s not a potential solution to the climate crisis. However, more research in this matter is needed.  

Plant-based food systems and the Plant-Based Treaty

A final remark on COP28 that I would like to make is on the participation of the Plant-Based Treaty (PBT). The PBT is a grassroots movement that places animal-agriculture at the forefront in an effort to combat the climate crisis. The principles of the PBT are the 3Rs: (1) Relinquish - no more land-use change for animal agriculture, (2) Redirection - more investment in plant-based systems, and (3) Restoration - actively restoring ecosystems.  

It is a non-politically binding campaign that encourages any actor in society - individuals, orgazations, schools, governments, communities, politicians, and cities - to recognize that animal agriculture is a major driver of human-induced climate change. Also, the endorsement is accompanied by a commitment to transition towards a plant-based diet.  

The PBT is supported by Nobel Laurates, political leaders and city councillors, companies, and educational institutions. The purpose of the initiative is to generate systemic awareness and transformation by providing information and resources of plant-based diets at different societal levels. At Esade, we already launched the awareness campaign in November in collaboration with the student council in sustainability; Oikos Barcelona which also endorsed the PBT.  

At COP28 the PBT launched a report called The Safe and Just report. This science-based document highlights the degenerative effects of animal agriculture and how it affects our safe operating space within the planetary boundaries. It draws on the Doughnut Economics framework of Kate Raworth to integrate ethical, scientific and socio-economic systems issues of animal agriculture.  

The Vegan Donut Economics framework aims to connect the scientific insights to act with the Plant Based Treaty’s forward-thinking principles, policies, and detailed proposals. I encourage you to read this report and share it with others, of course. As another milestone, Enric Noguera, campaign coordinator of the PBT met at the summit with Jaume Collboni Cuadrado, the Mayor of the city of Barcelona. The Mayor expressed his interest in exploring the initiative in more depth. The PBT is looking forward to more public awareness in the city of Barcelona, among its governors, and educational institutions.  

The transition towards a sustainable, regenerative, plant-based, and healthier Food System is not straightforward. It does not only require tremendous collective action but also individual action. While there is value in holding our governments and businesses accountable, we should not forget that we have the power to change our home – planet earth – for the better. Remember: “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth” — Joseph Poore, University of Oxford.