Written on 26 April 2021.

IVU Department of Policy Initiatives

The IVU Department of Policy aims to help and facilitate international best practice sharing on how to pave the way for plant-based political initiatives around the world – ranging from e.g. climate, agriculture and business policies to official dietary guidelines and municipal school meal programs.

Director: Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl

Rune-Christoffer is a Danish anthropologist and an expert on the relationship between sustainability, climate change, agriculture and food.

Being a vegetarian since his birth, Rune-Christoffer was appointed in 2016 Secretary-General of the Vegetarian Society of Denmark. He is the European Representative of IVU.

Projects

1. International online platform for sharing best practices on veg policy work

This policy forum is for organizations from all over the world who are working seriously with, or who want to learn more about how to work seriously with, influencing politics. The forum is administered by the Director of Policy Initiatives at the International Vegetarian Union (IVU). It is supported by a grant from Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) to the Vegetarian Society of Denmark, where the Director of Policy at the IVU works.

IVU Liaison: Rune-Christoffer

For anyone who would like to join the forum, please contact:

Sidsel Pousen

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2. TVA-IVU C40 Project

The project aims to reach out to veg groups and organizations to support C40 cities - www.c40.org - in reducing animal food consumption. About 97 cities already signed this project. So "Given the importance of meat reduction as a climate change action, we're hoping we can start our outreach by getting city buy-in to start implementing Meatless Mondays in public places like schools."

C40 is a network of 96 of the world’s largest and most influential cities - representing 700+ million people and one quarter of the global economy - that have committed to halving their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

One of the five categories of initiatives that the C40 network focuses on to accomplish its emissions targets is food, waste and water. Last June, C40 released a statement indicating that sustainable diets by 2030 are key to solving the global climate emergency and that cities need to consume less meat and provide access to more fresh fruits and vegetables. As you’re aware, greater shifts to plant-based diets would have dramatic benefits for our environment, climate, health and the welfare of animals.

Covid-19 has affected all of our organizations. But, for all the challenges brought on by the pandemic, it has also created opportunities for our vegan movement: people are becoming more aware of the effect of animal agriculture on the world and are consuming more information online.

These C40 initiatives align well with the missions of the TVA and the IVU - two of the oldest vegan-friendly organizations - to inspire people to choose healthier, greener, and more compassionate lifestyles.

If you are interested please join The C40 Global Veg Network

The Global Veg Network is a group of organization in C40 cities that are committed to the reduction of animal consumption and suffering and to the promotion and adoption of more plant-based foods in their cities.

Through the sharing resources, strategies and best practices, we can learn from each other, collaborate and work together to help our respective governments reach their C40 goals of reducing emissions by half by 2030.

This group was formed by the Toronto Vegetarian Association and the International Vegetarian Union. It is open-source and inclusive in nature and you are welcome to propose additional organizations in your cities join us, should they align with the aforementioned values and goals.

Contacts:

Nital Jethalal, President, Board of TVA - Toronto Vegetarian Association
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In addition to being a long-time volunteer and current president of the Toronto Veg Association, I am a plant-based nutrition economics researchers. I recently founded a NGO, Plant-Based Economics (www.plantbasedeconomics.com) and joined the research team at Plant-Based Data (www.plantbaseddata,org) I'm interested in accelerating the adoption of plant-based initiatives, like Meatless Monday, and in evaluating the impacts of population shifts towards more whole, plant-based foods.

IVU Liaison: Dilip Barman - North America IVU Representative