Food at COP26 might be labelled to show its carbon footprint, raising awareness of meat and dairy’s disproportionate impact compared to vegan alternatives, but why are politicians both local and national so averse to anything ‘plant-based’?

The 26th UN Climate Summit in Glasgow is in full swing and world leaders are attempting to hash out a climate action plan commensurate with the scale of the crisis the world faces. But campaigners and activists have warned that without prioritising the reform of food systems and particularly animal agriculture - a major global contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and habitat destruction - plans will inevitably fall short.

OPINION: The mass killing of 1,428 white-sided dolphins in the Faroe Islands as part of the grind - a scale of slaughter so great as to turn the stomachs of locals who have previously supported the ‘tradition’ - has prompted the Faroese prime minister to pledge a review of the hunt. But after years of increasing worldwide attention and condemnation, why has it taken so long and will it amount to anything?

NEWS: 90 per cent of all the money given to farmers in taxpayer-funded government hand-outs every year is damaging to people’s health, the environment and drives inequality, according to a new report released by three UN agencies ahead of the UN Foods Systems Summit next week.

BLOG: In a desperate attempt to make raising cows less damaging to the environment, scientists have come up with a ridiculous solution: teach cows to poo and wee in ‘toilets’. Why come up with a quick fix when the real answer is obvious?

The news yesterday that Dutch politicians are discussing new laws to compel farmers to sell off animals or reduce herd sizes in an effort to address ecological concerns could be a first for any nation.

Twenty meat and dairy producers are emitting more greenhouse gases than three of Europe’s largest economies - Germany, France or Britain - flying in the face of calls to greatly reduce the impact of the livestock sector on the environment.

Marking the release of our latest video - The Truth About Plant Milks: Displacement of Indigenous People, Destruction & Deforestation - we take a look at cell-cultivated milk technology, said to take cows and other animals, including humans, out of milk production. More sustainable it might be, but is it actually more ethical?

GUEST ARTICLE: A new initiative calling on the world’s governments to come together and take urgent action to address the climate crisis by shifting to a plant-based system has been launched. Anita Kranjc and Nicola Harris explain the principle behind the Plant Based Treaty campaign, which has received widespread support from high-profile campaigners.

Following the bombshell that was the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment report on the climate crisis, people have been reassured by the implication that giving up flying is more impactful than giving up meat. This could not be further from the truth, as Claire Hamlett explains.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has today released a landmark report identifying methane as a key greenhouse gas (GHG) to include in strategies tackling global warming ‘unequivocally’ caused by human activities, including livestock farming.

While the ‘beef’ industry is often thought of as one of the worst greenhouse gas emitters and contributors to rainforest destruction and the ensuing climate crisis, a new report reminds us that other agricultural sectors have a lot to answer for including, not least of all, the UK’s free-range egg producers.