Our Open Letter
We have united with climate-conscious celebrities, politicians, campaigners and businesses to send an urgent wake-up call about the two biggest global threats we currently face – a global pandemic and catastrophic climate breakdown – and their link to our diets. We are urging everyone to make 2021 the year for positive change and help protect the planet and prevent future pandemics by trying vegan this January.
2021 IS THE YEAR FOR POSITIVE CHANGE –
TOGETHER WE CAN BUILD A BETTER FUTURE
2020 has been an unforgettable year, with our attention divided between fears over coronavirus and anxiety over climate change. What has become increasingly obvious is that these two threats have something in common; both are heavily linked to our consumption of animal products.
Animal agriculture is responsible for an estimated 14.5 percent of all human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. Oxford University researchers found that almost every animal product creates far more emissions than almost every plant product. Quite simply, we cannot tackle climate change while we farm and eat animals on an industrial scale.
Pandemic experts warn that because of overcrowded, squalid conditions, factory farms – especially chicken farms – are breeding grounds for the next global pandemic.1 Already these farms have given us H1N1 (swine flu) and H5N1 (avian flu), the latter having a 60 percent mortality rate.2
More than one billion tonnes of food must be grown to feed the billions of animals we farm3 – far more than is needed if people were to eat plants. That farmland has to come from somewhere, and all too often it is taken from the wild.
In recent years, more than 80 percent of deforestation in Brazil was to graze farmed animals,4 and still more forests are destroyed to make way to grow crops to feed animals on farms around the world. Deforestation is serious for lots of reasons. It pushes wild species to extinction. It displaces indigenous peoples. It drives climate change. And it brings us in ever closer contact with wild animals and any viruses they may harbour, raising the risk of another pandemic.
Catastrophic climate breakdown and global pandemics could not be more serious, but they are not inevitable. If we act now, the future can be better. So, let’s go into 2021 with positivity and a determination to do all we can to protect our planet, its wild spaces and the health and wellbeing of all its inhabitants. To do that, we must change our diets.
Today, we are urging everyone to help build a better future by signing up to try vegan this January with Veganuary. Together, we can create a world that is kinder and safer for all.
Signatories
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Alan Cumming
Actor
UK
Albert Schweitzer Stifung für unsere Mitwelt
NGO
Germany
Alicia Silverstone
Actor
US
Amelia Mist
Made in Chelsea Star
UK
Animal Libre
NGO
International
Anne Menden
Actor
Germany
Ariane Sommer
Model and Author
Germany
Ariel Kraselnik
Doctor
Argentina
Aveda (Estee Lauder)
Toiletries and cosmetics company
UK
Baroness Jenny Jones
Member of the House of Lords
UK
Bella Ramsey
Actor
UK
Benjamin Zephaniah
Poet
UK
Beverley Callard
Actor
UK
Bryan Adams
Musician
UK
Carl Donnelly
Comedian
UK
Caroline Lucas MP
Member of Parliament
UK
Centre for a Responsible Future
NGO
Singapore
Chris Packham
Broadcaster and naturalist
UK
Chrissie Hynde
Singer songwriter
US/UK
Christina Rees MP
Member of Parliament
UK
Crica Wolthers
Entrepeneur, angel investor, CEO Zen App
Brazil
Dakota Blue Richards
Actor
UK
Dale Vince
Football club owner and businessman
UK
Deborah Meaden
Businesswoman
UK
Derek Sarno
Chef and Director of Plant Based Innovation at Tesco
UK
Djurens Rätt
NGO
Sweden
Dotsie Bausch
Olympic Cyclist
US
Edie Falco
Actor
US
Eliana Albasetti
Actor
Chile
Emiliano D’Avila
Actor
Brazil
Emily Fleeshman
Actor
UK
Emma Woods
CEO, Wagamama
UK
Enrico Rapalin
Audiovisual producer
Argentina
Eva Henderson
Nutritionist
Argentina
Evanna Lynch
Actor
UK
Fernando Gabeira
Journalist, writer, former Federal Congressman (Green Party)
Brazil
FNDPA – Fórum Nacional de Defesa e Proteção Animal
Animal Protection NGO
Brazil
-
Friends of the Earth
Environmental NGO
UK
Fry’s Family
Food producer
UK
Georgia Meacham
Actor & Model
UK
Green Monday
Social Venture Group
International
Greenpeace UK
Environmental NGO
UK
Heather Mills
Model, skier and businesswoman
UK
Henry Smith MP
Member of Parliament
UK
India Reynolds
Model and influencer
UK
James Moore
Actor
UK
Jamie-Lee Kriewitz
Singer
Germany
Jane Fallon
Author
UK
Jane Goodall
Primatologist
US/UK
Jasmine Harman
TV presenter
UK
Jason Gillespie
Cricketer
Australia
Jeff and Sandra Beck
Guitarist
UK
John Bishop
Comedian
UK
John Robins
Comedian
UK
Johnny Marr
Musician
UK
Jon Richardson
Comedian
UK
Jonathan Bartley
Co-Leader of the Green Party
UK
Josh Franceschi
Musician
UK
Julieta Valente
Writer
Argentina
Kaya Yanar
Comedian
Germany
Kellie Bright
Actor
UK
Kerry McCarthy MP
Member of Parliament
UK
Kuntal Joisher
Mountaineer
India
Leslie Clio
Singer
Germany
Lily Cole
Model, actor
UK
LiveKindly Co
Media outlet
UK
Liz Solari
Actor
Argentina
Lucas Reiber
Actor
Germany
Lucy Watson
Model and influencer
UK
Made with Luve
Food Producer
Germany
Marcela Manuzza
Nutritionist
Argentina
María Paz Orrego
Nutritionist
Chile
Marie Wegener
Singer
Germany
Matías Vega
Actor
Chile
Matthias Weidenhöfer
Actor
Germany
Mayim Bialik
Actor
US
-
Meatless Farm Co
Food producer
UK
Melanie Joy
Founding President of Beyond Carnism
US
Moses Pelham
Rapper
Germany
Natalia Rosa
Actor
Brazil
Nico Soto
Doctor
Chile
Oli Sykes
Musician
UK
Oliver Petszokat
Singer
Germany
Oumph!
Food producer
UK
Patrik Baboumian
Strongman
Germany
Paul McCartney
Musician
UK
Peter Egan
Actor
UK
Peter Tatchell
Human rights campaigner
UK
Prof. Daniel Braga Lourenço, PhD
Coordinator at the Centre for Environmental Ethics – UFRJ
Brazil
Prof. Paula Brugger, PhD
Ecological Justice Observatory Research Group – UFSC
Brazil
ProVeg International
NGO
Germany
Quorn
Food Producer
UK
Rebecca Callard
Actor and TV script writer
UK
Ricky Gervais
Comedian
UK
Sage Kotsenburg
Olympic Snowboarder
US
Sam Carter
Musician
UK
Sara Pascoe
Comedian
UK
Seth Tibbot
Founder and Chairman of The Tofurky Company
US
Soledad Pérez
Politician
Chile
Stefan Eck
Former Member of the European Parliament
Germany
Steffen Groth
Actor
Germany
SVB – Sociedade Vegetariana Brasileira
Brazilian Vegetarian Society NGO
Brazil
The Vegan Society
NGO
UK
Tig Notaro
Comedian
US
Tim Bengel
Artist
Germany
Ünsal Arik
Boxer
Germany
Vantastic Foods
Food Producer
Germany
Vegane Gesellschaft Schweiz
NGO
Switzerland
Veganz
Food Producer
Germany
Wheaty & Veggyness
Food Producer
Germany
Xuxa Meneghel
TV Broadcaster, actor
Brazil
