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A senior politician in the UK government proclaimed the ‘societal change’ of more people switching plant-based diets as a leading driver in reaching global climate targets.
MP Kwasi Kwarteng said he believes the surge in veganism is helping the country to cut 78 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2035.
The Business Energy & Industrial Strategy Secretary made the comments to the leading news organization, The Times.
UK climate targets
Moreover, Kwarteng admitted the government should ‘accelerate the change’, and praised the boom in plant-based diets as it’s taking place ‘without government legislation’.
He added: “The number of people who are vegans, who are reducing their meat intake, is going up all the time.
“I think that there is a lot of societal change that will actually help us and drive the progress to 2035.”
Consumers are leading the change, he added.
According to reports, the comments make Kwarteng the UK’s most senior political figure to endorse veganism.
UN Climate Change Conference
The comments come ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference – better known as COP26. It’s taking place in Glasgow later this year.
Moreover, to fight climate change UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to slash GHG emissions. The targets are to trim them by more than two-thirds in the next decade.
Johnson said: “We want to continue to raise the bar on tackling climate change. And that’s why we’re setting the most ambitious target to cut emissions in the world.”
Figures have urged the COP26 event to offer exclusively plant-based food. This is in order for the government to ‘set a global example’.
Boris Johnson urged to go plant-based
Moreover, Boris Johnson has been urged to go plant-based in the past.
A group of doctors even created a petition to help ‘scale up’ the nation’s plans on reaching climate targets.
However, the politician has also been blasted for outdated comments about veganism. This came after he described it as a ‘crime against cheese lovers’.
