Labour Group Member Motion

This Council notes that:

·         The global scientific consensus is that humans have heated the climate at a rate that is unprecedented, and we are heading towards mass extinction not just for ourselves but of entire eco systems if we do not change our actions today.[1]

·         The climate crisis is not just an environmental issue but is a social justice issue as the people who are least responsible for the crisis in the global south are the same people who will be hit the hardest by its impacts.

·         The UKs agricultural land use and associated agricultural practices are a central driver for habitat and biodiversity loss and the UK is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries.[2]

·         In the UK we eat twice as much meat and dairy as the global average which is not sustainable as there is not enough land in the world to meet this demand without destroying our natural world.[3] Farm animals across Europe are producing more emissions than cars and vans combined.[4] 

·         There was no mention of meat at the COP26 event other than what was on the menu and very little time given to agriculture and factory farming to have any meaningful changes.

·         Our relationship to food is still an overlooked factor to the climate crisis yet it is the quickest and cheapest step to help tackle the climate crisis if we reduce our meat intake.

·         The necessary change to confront the climate crisis needs to tackle existing inequalities in society while acting urgently. One of the few ways of reducing emissions that potentially saves people money is by consuming less meat which can be done immediately.

·         In January 2019, Oxford City Council declared a climate emergency, has been acting to prevent climate catastrophe, and seeks to do more locally in terms of agriculture and our relationship with meat.

·         This year, the Council launched a zero carbon communities’ approach at the start of COP26 which explicitly includes, among its action, dietary change and eating less meat.

This Council agrees to:

·         Call on the Government to provide funding to local governments for the nine concrete, radical changes of the Green New Deal to our current economic, social, and political model.[5]

Council requests that the Head of Community Services brings a report to Cabinet with proposals to:

·         Work closely with local farmers to support, promote, and encourage their move to create more sustainable plant-based produce in the lead up to the Oxford Farming Conference and beyond.[6]

·         Form a plant-based localised free food service by funding community groups who are already doing this work to transform Oxford into a more environmentally sustainable economy which will also tackle food poverty and provide a framework for other councils to follow.

This motion was not taken as the time allocated for debate had finished.