The 30th United Nations climate change conference (COP30) is upon us. World leaders are gathering in Belém, Brazil, preparing to discuss solutions and climate action for two weeks, starting on Monday, November 10.
Belém is a fitting location for COP30; it’s the gateway to the Amazon rainforest—a hub of biodiversity and home to 10 percent of all the Earth’s wildlife. But the Amazon is also a major environmental concern. It is being continually destroyed by deforestation, which threatens not only wildlife but people, too. Driven largely by animal agriculture, this destruction is a key reason the Amazon now emits more carbon dioxide than it absorbs.
And yet, COP30 is still planning to serve animal products to attendees. The move has many people confused—among them Meat Free Monday co-founder, former Beatle, and proud vegetarian Paul McCartney.
Mary McCartney
In partnership with animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), McCartney wrote to Brazilian ambassador and this year’s COP30 president, André Corrêa do Lago, urging him to remove meat from the conference menu.
“I’m writing on behalf of my friends at PETA to ask you to align COP30’s menu with its mission by making it all vegetarian. This would greatly reduce its carbon footprint and overall environmental impact, setting a positive example for the world to follow,” McCartney wrote.
Why COP30 should go meat-free
“Protecting the life-sustaining Amazon must be a top priority for environmentalists of all nationalities, so I was shocked to learn that only 40 percent of the food served at COP30 is currently slated to be vegetarian,” the musician continued.
“Serving meat at a climate summit is like handing out cigarettes at a cancer-prevention conference,” he added. “The animal agriculture industry is a top driver of deforestation and the climate catastrophe that is wreaking havoc on the planet.”
McCartney noted that the United Nations is well aware of this, pointing out that its own website acknowledges the lower carbon footprint of plant-based foods.
Canva
The organization has also released reports encouraging people to eat less meat in the past. In 2019, for example, a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for more people to incorporate plant-based whole foods into their diets to reduce emissions and preserve land.
“I urge you to lead by example and make the conference all vegetarian,” continued McCartney.
One organization that does seem to be leading by example is Prince William’s Earthshot Prize. The environmental award, founded by the royal in 2020, is dedicated to offering millions of dollars in funding to innovators tackling major issues like rising temperatures, biodiversity loss, and plastic pollution.
Like COP30, Earthshot’s recent final awards ceremony took place in Brazil—but its catering was 100 percent meat-free.
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
