Belém Declaration: UN Members Urged to Develop Plant-Based Action Plans by COP32

Regional government leaders, activists and stakeholders have signed a declaration calling on UN member states to create national plans to promote healthy and sustainable diets.

With the spotlight shining brightly on COP30 host Brazil’s beef sector ahead of the UN climate summit in November, countries are being urged to accelerate the protein transition through comprehensive national strategies.

At the ongoing Bonn Climate Change Conference, where negotiators from UN member states are discussing the agenda for COP30, food awareness organisation ProVeg International has launched the Belém Declaration on Plant-Rich Diets.

Signatories, including city and regional government leaders, NGOs, and other stakeholders, have called on national governments to draft and implement action plans for plant-based foods to promote a healthy and sustainable dietary transition.

Doing so would help boost food security and public health, mitigate climate change, protect and restore biodiversity, provide economic benefits, and ensure policy coherence, the group argues.

“Action plans should introduce concrete measures to encourage the production and consumption of plant-based foods through initiatives supported by national governments and involving cities and regional governments,” the declaration reads.

Why we need countries to take action on plant-based diets

The signatories argue that the benefits of transitioning to a plant-rich food system are manifold. Climate change is at the top of the list. Meat and dairy production accounts for up to a fifth of global emissions – and some suggest it is the leading cause of the crisis – while taking up 80% of Earth’s farmland, despite only providing 17% of calories.

Research shows that turning vegan can reduce emissions, land use and water consumption by 75%, compared to a meat-heavy diet. And the world’s top climate scientists believe that plant-based alternatives to animal proteins are the ‘best available food’ and should be given preference in climate (83%), agriculture (78%) and food purchasing policies (82%).

As the declaration points out, nearly all countries identify agrifood systems as a priority for climate adaptation (94%) and mitigation (91%) in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), whose latest update is due this year. Meanwhile, over 150 nations signed the COP28 declaration on sustainable agrifood systems, committing to shift high-carbon practices to more sustainable production and consumption approaches.

The document nods to a UNEP report that identifies a plant-based transition as one of three key levers for reducing land use pressure and biodiversity loss. And in high-income countries, the shift could produce a “double dividend”, reducing emissions by 61% and sequestering carbon equivalent to 14 years of global agricultural emissions.

On the other hand, countries in the Global South have “plant-rich dietary traditions” that need to be preserved to maintain food security, cultural heritage, and Indigenous knowledge. In small island developing states – among those hit hardest by the climate crisis – a transition to plant-based diets can restore healthy and sustainable food systems.

The declaration also alludes to the health gains from plant-based food, citing studies that show it’s associated with a lower risk of premature death and a host of non-communicable diseases. Plus, there’s the economic benefit, as growing plants via sustainable farming methods can generate new employment opportunities, particularly for smallholders and small family farms.

COP’s chequered history with food systems transformation

Ahead of COP30 in Belém, the declaration is asking UN member states to commit to a deadline for the publication of national plant-based action plans, in time for them to be tabled for discussion at 2027’s COP32, which will be held in an African country.

In addition, national governments are being urged to pledge financial support for the implementation of these strategies from their food and agriculture promotion budgets.

Historically, dietary change has been a thorny issue at the UN climate summit. At COP28 in Dubai, officials talked up the conference as the first with a proper focus on food, but the final text failed to recommend a reduction in meat consumption, an outcome celebrated by the livestock lobby.

COP29, in Baku, was worse by several levels, with dietary change virtually non-existent from the discussion, and the UN was slammed for a lack of plant-based food.

It puts COP30 in sharp focus. Research shows that Brazil’s beef industry has been emitting over twice the greenhouse gas limit outlined in the Paris Agreement, even though it updated its NDC last November to target a 59-67% emission reduction by 2035.

Additionally, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is set to unveil its finalised 2050 Roadmap to reduce food system emissions at COP30, though experts have “grave concerns” about whether it plans to use analysis from its controversial COP28 report to guide the plan.

The call for a national plant-based plan comes after some countries have shown that these policies are viable. Denmark was the first to introduce such a strategy in 2023 (before rolling out a wider green transition plan that includes a carbon tax on meat). It was followed by South Korea shortly after, and late last year, Portugal committed to developing a plant-based strategy too.

Like ProVeg International and the other signatories, experts have been calling on other countries to follow suit, producing a three-step guide outlining how countries can feasibly implement dietary transition plans.