The United Nations decided in 1970 to designate April 22 as the “International Day of Mother Earth”, after the great environmental revolt that year took place in the US, where 20 million people demonstrated in the streets. Today the commemoration invites raise awareness about the problems generated by overpopulation, pollution, biodiversity conservation and other environmental concerns.
This is why Fundación Vegetariano Hoy raised a bill in 2021 that is part of the campaign #MenúPorElPlaneta, the one that focuses on generating change from Chilean public institutions and politicians, this through a Bill that seeks to modify both the public procurement law (19,886), and the one that regulates acquisitions of the Chilean Armed Forces (18,928), for the purpose of prioritize the purchase of healthy plant-based foods.
international agreements
Other instances in which the organization has participated in this same approach are related to two international actions directly with the UN: One of them refers to an initiative in which Vegetarians Today together with other 154 non-governmental organizations from around the world signed a letter to put pressure on UNEP (UN Environment Programme) calling for a change towards more sustainable, healthy and less resource and production intensive food systems, placing animal agriculture at the center of the agenda of the Environment Assembly of the ONU.
The organization is also part of the global campaign for the climate emergency Plead For Planet (www.pleadforplanet.com) where the UN and its Secretary General Mr. António Guterres are urged to recognize the role of food in the fight against change climate change and the importance of him progressively adopting a plant-based diet as a global example.
In this regard, the General Director of the Foundation, Ignacia Uribe, comments that “it is vital that vegetable or plant-based food be recognized as a fundamental pillar in the fight against climate change, and that public policies in Chile and the world aim at its implementation and development”.
Key points about the latest IPCC report
Considering the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), where it states that humans are “on the brink of losing the battle for a healthy environment”, further declaring Hoesung Lee, President of the entity that “we are in a crossroads. It is now or never”, after making the report public, from which, as a result, three key points stand out regarding the main sources of polluting gases into the atmosphere:
The use of fossil fuels. It is a type of fuel that must be abandoned as soon as possible, urgently.
More sustainable food. The cattle industry is one of the most polluting, in addition to all the deforestation that its construction and maintenance entails. Setting a limit on the demand for meat and dairy should be a priority in everyone’s diet.
Control pollution in big cities. They are a very worrying source of GHG emissions. The traditional urban model has to make a change as soon as possible towards sustainable urban planning that is more respectful of the environment.
So, in the face of the current climate crisis, it is imperative to recognize that “the current food production systems cannot continue as they are… one must aim at productive reconversion and understand that, in this reconversion, many of the things that are done today, like livestock production, they should tend to disappear and be replaced by food production systems with less environmental impact, that is, vegetable or plant-based”, says Cristian Apiolaza, Legal Director of the Foundation.