Animal welfare charity, OneKind, will be marching alongside its supporters and fellow animal welfare organisations at the COP26 coalition march on Saturday 6th November to raise awareness of the significant negative impact animal agriculture is having on our planet.

OneKind Campaigner, Eve Massie, said:

“Intensive animal agriculture is, quite frankly, destroying our planet. It is responsible for an estimated 14.5-16.5% of greenhouse gases and has been listed by the UN as top contributor to the ‘most serious’ environmental problems. It is a leading cause of habitat destruction, desertification, wildlife extinction and ocean dead zones. And yet, it is largely absent from the COP26 agenda.

“While animal agriculture is likely to be discussed during two sessions at COP26, it doesn’t have its own dedicated session. Submissions from member states to the COP also don’t often touch upon animal agriculture. Given its huge detrimental impact on the planet, animal agriculture should be front and centre of COP26 discussions and measures to tackle its impact should be listed as a COP26 goal.

“Countries are being asked to accelerate the phase out of coal as a top priority at the COP26 conference. But, research shows that even if the use of fossil fuel was ended immediately, the emissions produced by animal agriculture alone would make it impossible to limit warming to the 1.5°C COP26 target. ”

On the march itself, Eve said:

“It is clear that governments globally are simply not doing enough to combat the emissions from animal agriculture. We have had enough of government cop outs. That is why we’re marching with our COPOUT26 campaign this Saturday, alongside our supporters and like-minded organisations, to call on governments globally to ensure that the impact of animal agriculture is central to climate change discussions and for those in a position to do so, such as the UK and Scottish Governments, to encourage the adoption of a plant-based diet.

We’ll be marching alongside several other animal welfare organisations that share our calls to the global governments.”