Progressive Cities: Halting Climate Change through the Plant Based Treaty, Part 1 of 2

According to the 2022 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be drastically reduced by no later than 2030 to prevent runaway global warming. Many studies have found that raising animal-people livestock causes significant amounts of all three greenhouse gases and is one of the primary causes of methane emissions.

Realizing the need to accelerate the global transition to the vegan lifestyle, an international grassroots campaign called the Plant Based Treaty was launched in August 2021. The campaign’s objective is to urge world governments to quickly and decisively address the climate crisis by actively promoting a plant-based food system. Just days after the campaign was launched, two cities, one in the USA and another in Argentina, became the first in the world to endorse the Plant Based Treaty.

On September 8, 2021, the city of Boynton Beach, Florida, USA, endorsed the Plant Based Treaty. Boynton Beach, Florida, provides recognition incentives to “green” restaurants that, among other things, offer at least one vegan or vegetarian main course item on their menus.

In September 2021, Rosario, Sante Fe, Argentina also boldly and wisely endorsed the Plant Based Treaty. Many of its restaurants serve plant-based menu items, and the National University of Rosario offers a postgraduate degree in plant-based nutrition.

To date, 14 Indian cities have endorsed the Treaty: Ahmedabad, Amravati, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Bhujpur, Gandhinagar, Jabalpur, Jamnagar, Mundra, Nagpur, Rajkot, Sonipat, Thane, and Vadodara.

On February 18, 2022, Thane, a city just outside Mumbai, India, also endorsed the Treaty. When the former mayor of Thane, the Honorable Naresh Mhaske, endorsed the Plant Based Treaty, he said, “I also endorse this Treaty because I believe that it is the only way to save our planet. I believe that we need to change the way we eat and the way we live our lives.”