Commission-funded advert flies in the face of EU efforts to combat climate change
Trams operating in Brussels are covered in EU-supported advertising for milk products despite the fact that the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy encourages a shift to plant-based diets in order to tackle climate change.
The promotion has been organized by Spanish dairy industry organization, INLAC, which is campaigning for people to consume three dairy products per day.
“This really does not make sense,” Jasmijn de Boo, Vice President of ProVeg International, said. “On the one hand, the EU wants to be a world leader in developing policies to mitigate climate change whilst, on the other hand, it is promoting products that have a huge and negative impact on the environment,” de Boo said.
Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from animal-based foods are twice those from plant-based foods, so ProVeg argues that policies need to be pushed to encourage plant-based nutrition.
Where dairy is concerned, one liter of cow’s milk requires up to 22 times more water and roughly up to 12 times more land and emits three times more GHG emissions than a single liter of soy milk((Poore, J. & T. Nemecek (2018): Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science. 360, p.987–992)).
“The EU should be putting its advertising budget into promoting plant-based diets, in line with the ambition of its own Farm to Fork Strategy and the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
“By supporting the advertising of milk products on the side of trams in Brussels, the EU shows that it is firmly on the wrong track. We urge the European Commission to stop promoting both dairy and meat products and channel the money into promoting climate-friendly food instead,” de Boo said.
Rapid global phase-out of animal agriculture has the potential to stabilize GHG levels for 30 years.
ProVeg is working to reduce global meat consumption by 50% by 2040 under the banner “Diet Change not Climate Change.”
Among its campaigns, ProVeg is running a petition to urge the European Commission to include plant-based milks in the EU School Scheme, which currently only subsidizes cow’s milk. The petition in support of calcium-fortified plant-based milk inclusion in the scheme has already garnered 70,000 signatures from across Europe.
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Notes to Editors
For media inquiries, email Peter Rixon at [email protected]
About ProVeg International
ProVeg is an international food awareness organization working to transform the global food system by replacing conventional animal-based products with plant-based and cultured alternatives.
ProVeg works with international decision-making bodies, governments, food producers, investors, the media, and the general public to help the world transition to a society and economy that are less dependent on animal agriculture and more sustainable for humans, animals, and the planet.
ProVeg has permanent-observer status with the UNFCCC, is accredited for UNEA, and has received the United Nations’ Momentum for Change Award.
