Copenhagen, 10 October 2019 – Today, 14 mayors of some of the world’s largest cities, including Paris, Los Angeles, Lima, Tokyo and Seoul, have signed a commitment to become ‘Good Food Cities’, by considerably reducing meat served in their public institutions as part of their response to the global climate emergency.
Senior Scientist Reyes Tirado at Greenpeace International, said:
“Greenpeace welcomes the leadership shown by 14 cities across three continents who are reducing meat in response to the climate emergency, and we urge other cities to do the same. To tackle the climate crisis, cut carbon emissions and protect forests, cities need to take action to cut their meat consumption now.”
In a declaration released today, during the Mayors Summit of the C40 cities network in Copenhagen, the undersigned mayors committed to align their food procurement to a ‘planetary health diet’ – rich in plant-based food with less food from animal sources – by 2030.[1][2] This would equate to a maximum average of 300 grams of meat per person per week.
“We are in a climate emergency, fuelled in significant part by excessive industrial meat production and consumption. We have no time to lose. These city leaders have recognised the power they have in reducing meat. It’s time for more cities to swiftly follow suit,” said Reyes Tirado.
The declaration was signed by Barcelona, Copenhagen, Guadalajara, Lima, London, Los Angeles, Milan, Oslo, Paris, Quezon City, Seoul, Stockholm, Tokyo and Toronto.
Signatory cities will adopt scientific recommendations for a healthy and sustainable diet that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, as targets in their climate action plans.[3] This follows last week’s call by over 200 scientists around the world, asking city leaders to reduce meat.[4]
Currently, livestock emissions, including impacts from deforestation for feed production, are growing and already account for 14.5% of direct global greenhouse gas emissions, which demands immediate action.[5]
ENDS
Notes:
[1] www.c40.org/other/good-food-cities
[3] https://eatforum.org/eat-lancet-commission/eat-lancet-commission-summary-report/
[4] http://scientists4lessmeat.org
[5] Tackling climate change through livestock – A global assessment of emissions and mitigation opportunities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3437e.pdf
Contacts:
Nora Holzmann, nora.holzmann@greenpeace.org, +43 (0) 664 61 03 998 (based in Vienna, Austria)
Greenpeace International Press Desk: pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org, +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)
