Haywards Heath Town Council joins the Plant Based Treaty

Published: 09 August 2022

Haywards Heath Town Council joins the Plant Based Treaty – Press Release Haywards Heath Town Council has become the first Town Council in Europe to endorse the Plant Based Treaty which puts food systems at the heart of combating the climate crisis. The Treaty aims to halt the degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture, to promote a shift to more healthy sustainable plant-based diets and to actively reverse damage done to planetary functions, ecosystems services and biodiversity. The adoption of the Plant Based Treaty, which was driven by the Town Council’s Environment Working Group’s priorities with sign off from the Environment and General Purposes Committee and then ratification from Full Council on the 18th July 2022, is a companion of the UNFCCC/Paris Agreement, which is an international treaty that commits almost every government in the world to address the climate crisis and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. The Plant Based Treaty has three core principles: • Relinquish - No land use change, ecosystem degradation or deforestation for animal agriculture • Redirect - An active transition away from animal-based food systems to plant-based systems • Restore - Actively restoring key ecosystems, particularly restoring forests and rewilding landscapes Whilst the Town Council has endorsed the Treaty, it is in no way is directing residents to follow the basis of the Treaty, but is simply signing posting that it exists as part of its Environmental Commitment Policies to share information within the community. Haywards Heath Town Council spokesperson said ‘The Town Council is launching an Education and Business Environmental Awards Scheme. The Plant Based Treaty and food waste reduction will be cornerstones of these initiatives along with the Town Council’s Carbon Calculator. The Town Council will also seek to engage local community, environmental groups, and Parish councils to help progress these ground-up activities. The council has taken a science-based approach to the climate crisis using research from project drawdown to provide a solid scientific foundation. While the Town Council is unable to build large solar farms or wind turbines, we can educate and encourage the local community to reduce food waste and move to plant-based diets to reduce CO2 emissions; activities which are as impactful as a large-scale move to green energy! Not only this, a move to plant based foods helps increase global biodiversity, will improve the local community’s health and, importantly, reduce weekly food bills. Having already supported the 2022 Veganuary initiative, endorsing the Plant Based Treaty was the obvious next step in an ongoing journey for Haywards Heath Town Council’. The UNFCCC is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. For more information on the Plant Based Treaty, visit https://plantbasedtreaty.org/ Ends