At a full council meeting earlier this year a local resident, Kate Bowen, asked the council if they would be willing to adopt the Plant Based Treaty ( https://plantbasedtreaty.org ), which is an international movement operating along side the Paris agreement on climate change. A huge amount of land is currently used to raise animals or grow their food and the greater adoption of plant based diets would make a major contribution to achieving carbon net zero targets. In addition to health benefits, there would also be opportunities to return agricultural land to its natural state with a much needed boost to biodiversity.
Although several local authorities in Britain have already endorsed the treaty, North Tyneside Council Climate Change Lead, Sandra Graham, declined to adopt it, suggesting that the council was already active enough in this area. However, other councils have introduced carbon labelling into their canteens, promoted ‘Veganuary’ and sponsored plant based food workshops, all of which could be applied here.
An opportunity has been missed by North Tyneside to make a high profile, low cost, proactive addition to its net zero policies. Time is running out and bold decisions need to be taken.
Kate is planning to submit a further question on this subject in the new year.