As part of PECAN’s Bi-monthly Seminar Series, this seminar introduces the Plant Based Treaty, a global campaign where people, organisations, and cities are creating bottom-up pressure on national governments to negotiate an international Plant Based Treaty as a companion to the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement. The Treaty would put food systems at the heart of combating the climate crisis, aiming to halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture, promote a shift to healthier, sustainable plant-based diets and to actively reverse damage done to planetary functions, ecosystem services and biodiversity.
This session will explore the Plant Based Treaty campaign in more detail, including its core principles – Redirect, Relinquish, Restore – and why companion treaties, like the Fossil Fuel Treaty and the Plant Based Treaty, are needed alongside the Paris Agreement to tackle major sectors driving the climate crisis that are currently overlooked. We’ll look at the growing list of city endorsements, what they mean in practice, and why food system change is essential for meeting climate, biodiversity, and health goals both in Australia and globally. There will also be time for discussion about how communities can engage with the campaign and why local action matters.
This seminar will include a 30 minute presentation, followed by a 30 minute Q & A.
Wednesday 24 September, 5:30pm-6:30pm
Function Room, Elwood + St Klida Neighbourhood Learning Centre
87 Tennyson Street, Elwood VIC 3184
This seminar will be presented by Sheena Chhabra, a St Kilda resident and campaigner with the Plant Based Treaty, leading the campaign and coordinating volunteers across the Oceania region. Recognising the importance of thinking globally and acting locally, Sheena encourages local councils to take practical steps toward healthy, sustainable, plant-based food systems – following the example set by Darebin City Council, the first in Australia to endorse the Treaty, alongside global cities such as Los Angeles, Amsterdam, and Edinburgh.
