Plant Based Treaty Campaign

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We call upon the University of Melbourne Community to endorse the Plant-Based Treaty!

The Plant-Based Treaty is a global movement to combat Climate change by addressing how our current food systems are driving catastrophic environmental destruction. The Plant-based treaty is a grassroots initiative creating bottom-up pressure for the negotiation of a global Plant-Based Treaty as a companion to the UNFCCC Paris Agreement. Modelled on the Fossil Fuel Treaty, the Plant-Based Treaty aims to put food systems at the forefront of combating the climate crisis to halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture and to promote a shift towards healthier, sustainable plant-based food systems.

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the EAT- Lancet Commission have made it clear that substantial reductions in the demand for animal-based foods are essential in order to achieve climate targets and keep food production within planetary boundaries.

Quick Facts

  • The livestock sector is the biggest driver of deforestation and one of the leading drivers of land degradation, pollution, climate change, overfishing, sedimentation of coastal areas and facilitation of invasions by alien species.(Steinfeld et al, 2006)

  • "[A] diet excluding animal products has transformative potential, reducing land use by 76 percent, agricultural greenhouse emissions by 50 percent, acidification by 50 percent, eutrophication by 49 percent and freshwater withdrawals by 19 percent." (Poore & Nemecek, 2018)

  • A shift to plant-predominant diets in wealthy countries would reduce agricultural emissions by over 60%, while sequestering an estimated 98 Gt of CO2-eq, with Australia demonstrated to have the greatest potential for this double climate benefit. (Sun et al., 2022)

We are calling on the University of Melbourne Community to endorse the Plant-Based Treaty and to come together to transition UniMelb to a Plant-Based University, modelled on the success of the Plant-Based University campaign in Europe.  Recognition of the damage our current animal-based food systems has seen a wave of Universities and Student Unions across the world leading sustainable change by committing to plant-based catering. 

The importance of our food systems as an essential part of tackling climate change has already been recognised by the University. The Sustainable Campus team officially recommends that catering for university events be at least 80% Vegetarian but fully Vegan/Plant Based is ideal. (Sustainable Campus, 2024) There are university teams leading the way on these recommendations, seen in the fully plant-based catering at the Faculty of Architecture and Building and Planning’s Climate Symposium, Wattle Fellowship events and the Professional Staff Conference in 2024. Last year also saw exciting progress in Student groups such as the Student Union’s Media and Welfare departments committing to sustainable plant-based catering. 

However, there is still much progress to be made, with most food at establishments and events across the university heavily comprised of animal-based products and the high emissions and environmental destruction they bring. Accounting for the university's food systems emissions and ecological impact is missing from the University’s Sustainability Plan 2030, leading to animal-based menus continuing to increase across new establishments and events across campus. To see the implementation of the necessary systematic change we must come together as a community and show our support for a more sustainable food system. 

As our generation faces escalating climate disasters and rising environmental destruction, it is more pressing than ever for the Universities to lead the necessary cultural shift towards plant-based food systems that doesn’t cost the health of our planet.

We are encouraging students, staff and university groups, clubs and societies to endorse the Plant Based Treaty and start the transition to plant-based food systems that will create a more sustainable future for us and our planet.

 

Endorsements of the Plant Based Universities Campaign

National Union of Students UK (NUS)

  • Passed a motion endorsing a NUS campaign for university catering to transition towards 100% plant-based“, recognising that “plant-based campuses” as the most “affordable, most inclusive, most accessible and the healthiest” university catering option 

University of Cambridge Student Union

University College London Student Union 

Lancaster University Students’ Union

Newcastle University Students Union

Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union

University of Graz Student Union

University of Warwick Student Union

University of Kent Student Union

London Metropolitan University Student Union

University Of Stirling Student Union

University of Birmingham Student Guild 

Queen Mary University of London Student Union

Imperial College London

University of Bristol Student Union
 

Plant-Based Treaty Education Endorsements

Rosario University, Colombia

Darshan University, India

Delhi University, India

Student Council of Amsterdam University, The Netherlands

Strathcylde Student Union, Scotland

Vyavasayi Vidya Pratishthan College of Engineering,  India

Vasantdada Patil College of Engineering, India

Ramanujan College, India

Shri Ram Group of Institutions (9 colleges), India