Campaigners from the animal and climate justice movement Animal Rebellion have hung a banner saying ‘COP: Invest in a plant-based future’ from the Home Office building in London in a protest against climate change.
Four protestors climbed the building early Tuesday morning to hang the banner. The group demands the British government to stop subsidising the meat and dairy industry.
Animal Rebellion says they intend to remain on the building until UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledges to cut all taxpayer support for animal agriculture.
They also want Johnson to urge all world leaders to do the same when they attend the United Nations climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow at the end of the week.
Johnson has called the conference one of the last major chances to slow rising temperatures.
“The UK Government is simultaneously saying that it is a world leader in climate change whilst propping up the unsustainable and unprofitable meat and dairy industry, one that emits disproportionate amounts of greenhouse gases,” Animal Rebellion spokesperson Nathan McGovern said.
“This hypocrisy has to end. We need to defund meat and subsidise plant-based alternatives instead,” McGovern added.
Animal Rebellion wants the government to invest more in plant-based foods as recommended by the government-commissioned report National Food Strategy to “protect the planet for future generations and end the unnecessary suffering of billions of animals every year.”
“Our current appetite for meat is unsustainable. Plant-based proteins produce 70 times less greenhouse gas emissions than an equivalent amount of beef, and use 150 times less land,” the National Food Strategy report said.
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