White Paper on Ending Destructive Food Systems to Be Released at Climate Week NYC

A global movement of organizations dedicated to ensuring a just transition away from industrial animal agriculture will release a white-paper roadmap to a U.S. audience on Tuesday containing guidance on shifting to equitable, humane, and sustainable food systems.

The roadmap will be released at a panel during Food Day at Climate Week NYC and includes more than 100 policy recommendations to reduce food and agriculture emissions, harm, and inequity. It comes at a time when experts agree that global emissions from animal production must decline by 50% by 2030 to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement.

“There’s a growing movement uniting against industrial animal agriculture’s exploitation of workers, animals and the environment,” said Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The roadmap provides direction on stopping the global food system from driving us toward climate catastrophe.”

The roadmap was coproduced by more than 50 contributors. It represents a shared vision for transformation away from industrial animal agriculture and calls on global leaders to take action on three key levers of change for a just transition: strengthening food system governance, promoting agroecological practices, and shifting toward diets with planetary and social boundaries.

The pathways can be tailored to local and regional contexts, taking into account local legislation, cultural sensitivities, community-based solutions, meat consumption and reduction narratives, the role of plant-based diet shifts, and how entrenched industrial animal agriculture is in a given region. Efforts are already underway in Nigeria, Kenya, Togo, Southeast Asia, and the United States to create localized roadmaps.

“Industrial animal agriculture is exacting a heavy toll on animals, ecosystems, our health, and our communities. It is a system that profits from the exploitation of billions of animals, millions of workers, and our limited natural resources,” said Cameron Harsh, US director of programs at World Animal Protection. “Its only beneficiaries are the immensely powerful meat, seafood, and dairy companies who wield incredible influence over political processes. We must put ourselves on a clear pathway away from factory farming before it’s too late.”

The roadmap will be launched to a U.S. audience on Tuesday, Sept. 24, from 2-3 p.m. at a Food Day panel during Climate Week NYC. More information about the panel is available here.

Industrial animal agriculture is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, a leading driver of climate change, habitat loss, water pollution and pesticide use, and a significant source of animal suffering. Food production contributes about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, and pollution from industrial agriculture harms the most vulnerable communities.