News

Animal rights protesters scale government building demanding UK go vegan

Four protesters scaled the building at around 6 am - they say animal agriculture is “killing our planet”

Georgina Pellant - 26th October 2021

Animal rights activists have been spotted clambering up the side of a government building this morning as part of a climate protest ahead of COP26.

Protesters from Animal Rebellion mounted the Westminster building for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), also shared by the Home Office, in the early hours calling for the country to adopt a plant-based lifestyle.

After scaling the building at around 6 am, the group then dropped a banner down from the roof that reads: “COP26: Invest in a plant-based future”.

The group intends to stay up there on the roof all day, suspended in hammocks until the Prime Minister agrees to cut taxpayer funding for animal agriculture, reports The Metro.

The protesters are calling on ministers to support a plant-based food system at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, claiming that “our food system is destroying our planet.”

Connected to Extinction Rebellion, Animal Rebellion (AR) describes itself as “a mass volunteer movement using nonviolent civil disobedience to help the transition to a plant-based food system.”

The group says the government currently spends around £1.5billion per year subsidising livestock farming – ten times the country’s budget for planting trees and around half of the UK’s overall agricultural subsidies.

This morning AR has tweeted that it will “take action until the government defunds meat and subsidises a plant-based transition”.

It added: “Meat and Dairy is one of the leading producers of greenhouse gases and causes 90% of Amazon deforestation. 

“World leaders at [COP26] cannot talk about meeting the Paris Climate targets and securing global net zero without addressing that our food system is destroying our planet.”

The activist group also posted that it will continue to post updates throughout the day as its take-over of the building unfolds.

Animal Rebellion spokesman Nathan McGovern told The Metro: ‘Our protesters climbed the building in the early hours of this morning to send a clear message that we want an end to support for animal agriculture which is killing our planet.

‘The four, who are around 10 to 20 metres high, have unveiled a banner saying “Cop26: Invest in a plant-based future”.

‘We will see what the situation with the police is, but the plan is to stay in place indefinitely and this will remain a peaceful protest.’

Feature image – Animal Rebellion via Twitter