The Farm to Fork Strategy and the European Commission Report on Drivers of Food Security have both highlighted the need for a transition towards more sustainable consumption patterns and the fact that a shift to a more plant-based diet will not only improve public health but also reduce the environmental burden on the current food system.

ProVeg attended the 27th UN climate conference and organised its first-ever food pavilion to promote plant-based as a climate solution. While food is now finally on the climate agenda, there is still a long way to go to ensure concrete, bold action on food-systems change.

In May, the 50by40 UNFCCC Action Group, co-chaired by ProVeg International and Humane Society International, submitted key recommendations for an urgent shift towards sustainable food systems to the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA). By adopting the KJWA as a landmark decision, COP23, held in Bonn in 2017, recognised the role of agriculture in tackling climate change.

During the recent Earth Week, ProVeg’s Lana Weidgenant travelled to Nairobi and Naivasha in Kenya for the Act4Food Act4Change workshop, which gathered young people who are active in food-systems work from over 20 different countries around the world.

On 20 April, the International Plant Based Foods Working Group was launched in order to build on the ongoing shift towards eating more sustainable and healthier foods. The rise of the flexitarian consumer is unstoppable, with around 30-40% of people – and in some countries an even larger proportion – actively choosing to reduce animal consumption and eat more plant-based foods.

ProVeg International is excited to announce the launch of our Diet Change Not Climate Change Youth Board, with 10 outstanding young people from around the world joining.

ProVeg International and 154 partners from civil society sent a letter to Inger Andersen (UNEP) and HE Espen Barth Eide (President of UNEA5.2) asking UNEP to take a stronger lead in promoting less resource-intensive diets, especially following the COP commitments on methane and deforestation.

For the past few years, ProVeg has been developing key relationships with the United Nations bodies and its agencies.

We finally received a reply from Commissioner Wojciechowski regarding the letter we sent with 50 NGOs. While the reply acknowledges plant-based as the way forward to tackle the climate and health crises, it lacks a clear commitment to stopping the promotion of meat and dairy.

ProVeg added to the EU's public consultation on sustainability education and calls on the EU to include plant-rich diets in education.

ProVeg, along with 49 other NGOs has sent a letter to the European Commission demanding a stop to the promotion of meat and dairy and instead promote plant-based foods.

ProVeg has gained accreditation to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, also called ECOSOC. ECOSOC is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the organisation’s economic and social mandates.

A letter from 67 scientists calling on the European Commission to stop EU-funded promotion of meat and dairy has received an unsatisfactory response from European Commissioner, Janusz Wojchiechowski.

ProVeg becomes supporter of the Diet Change Not Climate Change campaign.

Together with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and the EAPF, ProVeg organises two affiliated sessions at the Food Systems Pre-Summit.

ProVeg International calls on the European Commission to revise EU School Schemes rules to integrate plant-based foods among eligible products.

ProVeg launches a European billboard campaign encouraging policy makers to take urgently needed action and stop the promotion of meat and dairy products and promote sustainable lifestyles instead.

As a member of the NGO Major Group, ProVeg contributes to a position paper to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Together with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, ProVeg co-hosted an Independent Food Systems Summit Dialogue.

ProVeg becomes supporter of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, thereby contributing to help achieve the SDGs.