During the opening of the Platinum Jubilee weekend, Animal Rebellion disrupted the royal procession on Pall Mall. This comes after the group dyed the Buckingham Palace fountains red last August [3]. The group are urging for an immediate transition to a plant-based future and rewilding.

Beau King Houston, amongst those taking action, has said “The Royal family has had decades to lead the way on a just transition to plant-based farming and has failed to do so. This transition is common sense and simple, we all win. 76% of currently farmed land could be rewilded and absorb carbon from the atmosphere. This would restore nature, spare billions of animals, and present a solution to the climate emergency, all in one act.” [4]

This action comes as a response to Royal disregard for all life. Since Animal Rebellion last highlighted Crown complicity in the climate emergency, the necessary changes to Royal land have not happened. February’s IPCC report stated, “Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.” [5]

By refusing to make the necessary changes to Royal land, the Crown is showing it does not care for millions across the UK and billions of the most vulnerable across the planet. They have also come under fire for blocking construction of renewable energy sources [6].

Robert Gordon, a spokesperson for the group, said “These jubilee celebrations are set to cost the taxpayer tens, if not hundreds of millions of pounds. All whilst we are struggling through the cost-of-living crisis and families across the country are increasingly reliant on foodbanks. Instead, this obscene amount of money could have been used to provide instant food security and kick start a plant-based future where no child is left hungry or terrified by climate collapse. We must reclaim royal land for this.”

A global shift to a plant-based food system would sequester more than 300 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, effectively halting increase in atmospheric greenhouse gasses for 30 years [7]. Rewilding the freed-up land would not only offer carbon drawdown but would also play a vital role in repairing the biodiversity crisis [8]. 

The action today comes as part of Animal Rebellion’s demands for a plant-based future, which were announced on Monday 23rd of May [9]. The group is urging for wholesale governmental support for a transition to a plant-based food system and programme of rewilding that will secure a future for generations to come. 

Animal Rebellion is a mass movement using nonviolent civil disobedience to call for a just, sustainable plant-based food system. 

ENDS

High-quality pictures and videos: https://show.pics.io/animal-rebellion-breaking-news-

For interviews or further comment please contact:

​​​​​​Oliver (Press Back Office): 07706 066859

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Notes To Editors

[1] Jia. G, Shevliakova. E et al, “Chapter 2: Land-Climate Interactions” in UN Special Report: Climate Change and Land (2019.) https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20130116064209/http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/rural/agriculture/

[3] https://animalrebellion.org/animal-and-climate-protestors-dye-buckingham-palace-fountains-blood-red/

[4] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaq0216

[5] https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-ii/

[6] https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/28/queen-secretly-lobbied-scottish-ministers-climate-law-exemption&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1653996862478951&usg=AOvVaw11zt7DqPAcAu7bQNnQnYBv

[7] https://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/sw/files/Hayek2020.pdf

[8] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aav5570

[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOq2Jqqga9E&t=5s

The post Animal Rebellion Disrupts Platinum Jubilee To Demand A Plant-Based Future And Rewilding Of Royal Land first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Photo credit: East London Chicken Save

In March 2022 Animal Rebellion launched the Gardens Not Slaughterhouses campaign – a pressure campaign to shut down London’s last remaining slaughterhouse. Thousands of chickens are killed every week at Kedassia on Smeed Road in Hackney Wick. We think it’s time to make the slaughterhouse history and transform it into a vibrant, thriving garden!

Hackney Wick is a growing community. A space for artists, creators and families. Yet, right in the centre of our neighbourhood, is a place of horror and death. This is not the community that we want to build. 

Every year in the UK 1.1 billion land animals are killed for food, 950 million of them are birds. Chickens are intelligent, gentle birds and experience pain and trauma not only during the slaughter process but also on farms and during transportation. Together we can stop the suffering of thousands of chickens. 

Slaughterhouses also damage the environment, releasing toxic chemicals and waste into the surrounding area. They are also responsible for large outputs of greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide, both major contributors to climate change. These gases are created both in the process of slaughter and by the degradation of wastewater. Furthermore, 3 out of 4 new infectious diseases come from animals – slaughtering animals puts everyone at risk.

We are joining local residents and demanding that the slaughterhouse is redeveloped into a community garden where residents can benefit from the environment around them. Together we can shut this slaughterhouse down and transform this place of death into a space for life and community.

To help us shut down London’s last slaughterhouse, sign up below

Download our companion PDF leaflet

The post Gardens not Slaughterhouses first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Well 2021 was a wild year, with blockades, beacons, and lock-ons aplenty! More can be read about those here or seen here. Animal Rebellion did a fantastic job in showing McDonalds, Arla (The UK’s biggest dairy producer,) and even the British government where they’re going wrong! With that in mind we wanted to invite the meat, dairy, and fishing industries to make some resolutions of their own to secure a just and sustainable plant-based future!

Let’s start it off nice and simple shall we? McDonald’s and Arla, this one’s for you (and other food and drink providers)! In fact it’s a resolution to make until 2025 and it is to  make a just and sustainable transition to 100% plant-based! Animal Rebellion is so excited to help in making  the change that we even used nonviolent direct action to speed you both along in 2021. In 2022 the resolution for the pair of you is to make genuine steps in that transition!

 We know why these resolutions are necessary, but perhaps you don’t? Firstly Mcdonald’s, your current food system relies on meat directly linked to Amazon deforestation . Even when your beef burgers don’t come from South America, methane emissions from the cattle are catastrophic. It’s simple, serving 100% plant-based options in your restaurants is the only way to just and sustainable practice.  The McPlant might be a start, but it’s certainly not going to be the end …

Onto Arla, why is ditching dairy and transitioning to being 100% plant-based by 2025 such a great resolution? Well for starters, dairy can use up to 29x more land, 22x more water, and produces  nearly 5x as many greenhouse gas emissions per litre when compared to plant-based options. The fact is, the most ‘sustainable’ dairy option is less sustainable than the ‘least sustainable’ plant-based one. If that’s not bad enough, areas with intensive dairy farming also experience horrific levels of water pollution due to spillage, dumping waste feed, and the surface run-off of waste or excrement from the herds. It’s clear that dairy is milking the planet. McDonald’s and Arla’s  resolution to transition to just and  sustainable plant-based production is looking pretty good to us …

Now let’s think of a resolution for the fishing industry! Instead of destroying oceans and coasts alike, resolve to a just and sustainable transition away and into other industries like aquatic plant-based options.  

Stopping fishing entirely is essential in order to preserve biodiversity and equilibrium in ocean ecosystems. In fact, depleting oceans of fish, and leaving rubbish behind is driving algal blooms, reduced carbon-capture potential, and poisoning coastal communities. We think this is more than enough reason to give multinational fishing corporations the resolution to transition away from their destructive practices, and support their workers in seeking a future within a just and sustainable plant-based food system.

Thirdly, we have a helpful resolution for the British Government! If our banner on the Home Office building didn’t make it clear enough in October 2021, invest in a plant-based future! We know that the, roughly, £1.5 Billion yearly subsidies for industries like meat, dairy, and fish would be better used elsewhere! The British government must help its farmers make the just and sustainable transition to plant-based farming in order to secure the future. 

By helping ordinary farmers adopt Earth-friendly farming that they can rely on, the British government will be freeing up some 85% of land from inefficient meat and dairy production. Freeing this land for multiple uses including rewilding, plant-based farming, and renewable energy is a necessity to mitigate the worst impacts of climate breakdown. 

Finally, not to just make resolutions for everyone else, Animal Rebellion would like to make a resolution for ourselves! That is to refuse to quit in our mission to secure a just and sustainable plant-based food system, thereby halting mass extinction, alleviating the worst effects of climate breakdown and ensuring justice for animals. Whether it’s on social media, from a beacon or helping university students campaign, we promise we’ll be there fighting for the future of all life!

If you’d like to get involved in helping any of these resolutions come true then fill out our interest form below or get in touch via any social media! There is something for anyone to do within Animal Rebellion!

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/animal-rebellion-volunteer-submissions

1.  _{https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/17/leading-burger-supplier-sourced-from-amazon-farmer-guilty-of-deforestation}
2. _{https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/27/whats-the-beef-with-cows-and-the-climate-crisis}
3. _{Nemecek. T and Poore. J, “Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers,” Science 360, issue 6392 (June 2018): 987-992.}
4.  _{https://sentientmedia.org/milk-pollution-in-rivers/}
5. _{Salazar. Cesar, Jaime. Marcela and Quiroga. Miguel, “Transition Patterns of Fishermen and Farmers into Seaweed Small-Scale Aquaculture: The Role of Risk and Time Preferences,” EfD Discussion Paper Series (2020,) p. 3-20.}
6. _{https://www.cbsnews.com/news/salt-water-fish-extinction-seen-by-2048/}
7. _{https://www.science.org/content/article/united-kingdom-embark-agricultural-revolution-break-eu-farm-subsidies}
8.  _{De Ruiter. Henri, et al, “Total global agricultural land footprint associated with UK food supply 1986–2011,” Global Environmental Change 43 (2017,) p. 72-81.}

The post 2022: Some New Year’s Resolutions For a Plant-Based Future first appeared on Animal Rebellion.