The TAPP Coalition, a group advocating for sustainable food policies, called on countries to implement a tax on meat at the 2024 U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP29). In its address, TAPP argued that such a tax, alongside subsidies for vegetables, could help reduce “animal protein overconsumption” and lower greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector. TAPP policy officer Willem Branten emphasized the need for COP29 to include commitments to these dietary shifts in its closing statements, urging major players like the EU Commission and China to lead the way.
The coalition also criticized countries like the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the UK as “laggards” in adopting food pricing policies to address climate impact, contrasting them with Switzerland, Denmark, and the EU Commission, which TAPP praised for their progressive steps. COP29, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, has drawn attention not only for its climate discussions but also for hosting delegates from controversial states, including Afghanistan under Taliban rule. President Joe Biden did not attend the conference, sending senior officials in his place to discuss energy and climate policies.
The True Animal Protein Price (TAPP) Coalition gave comments at the 2024 U.N. Climate Change (COP29) Conference Monday urging countries to begin taxing meat.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a report Friday weighing the pros and cons of a tax on certain foods, including meat. TAPP Coalition raised the topic at COP29 this week, suggesting that countries should tax meat and subsidize vegetables while describing the U.S. and some Western nations as a “laggard” relative to other U.N. countries when it comes to its food pricing policies.
“We believe that COP29 and UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] conferences thereafter can only be successful if the closing statement includes transitioning away from animal protein overconsumption according to national or global dietary guidelines by implementing greenhouse gas emission pricing mechanisms in agri-food systems,” Willem Branten, public affairs and policy officer at TAPP, said at the conference this week. “We urge the EU Commission, the OECD and China to lead the way towards these harmonized pricing mechanisms.”
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Instructs Americans To Eat Fewer Hamburgers https://t.co/pmipzEBXoY pic.twitter.com/HbIWNgvpQ6
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TAPP also urged member countries to subsidize vegetables and provided an “update” on the “UN Member State frontrunners and laggards of food pricing climate policies,” accusing the U.S., Australia, Canada and the UK of falling behind in their efforts to implement “dietary shifts,” while lauding Switzerland, Denmark and the EU Commission for their efforts.
COP29 kicked off Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan — a Caucasian petrostate that nonprofit Amnesty International accused of violating international humanitarian law by implementing a blockade in 2022 that created food shortages in Armenia. A study published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment discovered an increase in private jet usage associated with U.N. climate summits like COP.
President Joe Biden decided not to attend the event this year, instead sending a delegation of senior energy officials such as White House adviser John Podesta and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in his stead. Afghanistan, meanwhile, has sent representatives to the event for the first time since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
TAPP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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