Saturday, October 23, the official website of the UK government as it hosts the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 26) announced that plant-based food will dominate the menu at the upcoming COP16, which will be held from October 31 to November 12, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland.

The press release also stated that COP26 attendees will be provided with food that is locally sourced, sustainably served, and seasonal with 95% of the food coming from the UK, with most of it from Scotland. Each dish has an estimate carbon footprint to help attendees make climate-friendly choices.

According to the “Food System Impact on Biodiversity Loss” report by Chatham House, United Kingdom, which is supported by UNEP and Compassion in World Farming, has reported that livestock farming is generating up to 15% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. As a result, there has been many campaigns to eat more vegetarian food. However, because vegetarian food has an unsatisfactory taste, many people are unable to reduce and omit their meat consumption.

What is Plant-based Food?

Due to the problem of unsatisfactory taste for vegetarian food, plant-based food or in other words, meat made from plants was invented, such as vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, including grains and beans, with an emphasis on plant proteins to make dishes with a taste and texture that are close to real meat. This is a new alternative for those who want to reduce their consumption of meat. Not only plant foods are good for health, but also good for our climate and our planet, because the processing of plant-based food produces less greenhouse gas emissions than meat-based food production.

The COP26 president-designate, Alok Sharma, said the choice of food served was important. “It is exciting to see such innovation in the menus that will be on offer and to understand the thought and effort that has gone into making dishes both healthy, sustainable and suitable for different diets and requirements.”, he said.

Some Sample menu with its estimate carbon footprint

• Winter squash lasagne (0.7kg CO₂equivalent emissions) – celeriac, glazed root vegetables and winter squash, with a vegan cheddar.
• Organic kale and seasonal vegetable pasta (0.3kg CO₂ee) – spelt fusilli, field mushrooms, kale and seasonal vegetables.
• Organic spelt wholegrain penne pasta (0.2kg CO₂ee) – with a tomato ragu, kale, pesto and oatmeal crumble.

The release of this statement is therefore an important announcement of our intention to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in every possible way.

Reference:

1. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/23/cop26-menu-plant-based-dishes-scottish-food#
2. https://www.standard.co.uk/reveller/foodanddrink/cop26-delegates-plant-based-scottish-menu-b962284.html

Capacity Building and Outreach Office
Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization)
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

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