On 23 September 2024, a climate march was organised in Brussels by the Rise for Climate and Youth for Climate collectives. The 200 participants who responded to the organisers’ call asked the Belgian government and the European institutions to respect the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal, to reject austerity policies and “climate breaks” in response to the global crisis, and to stop public subsidies for fossil fuels. The aim was also to challenge the heads of state who were meeting on 22 and 23 September at the United Nations Future Summit in New York.
On this occasion, some fifteen L.I.A. activists had organised an anti-speciesist counter-demonstration and were waiting for the climate march at the corner of rue Ernest Allard and Place Poelart with a clear message: ‘If you are sincerely and genuinely concerned about global warming, then go vegan!’.
So, when the climate march began its ascent up rue Allard towards Place Poelart, the anti-speciesist demonstrators positioned themselves opposite the Climate March in order to challenge the participants on their personal responsibility for global warming. Indeed, according to the current scientific consensus, the farming and consumption of animal-based food products are responsible for nearly 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, more than 85% of the world’s agricultural land is used by the meat and dairy industry. Finally, it is now accepted that a vegan diet can reduce an individual’s personal food GHG footprint by 75%[i].
Therefore, the first action that those who want to effectively fight against global warming, which threatens the survival and habitability of our civilisation on this earth, should take is to adopt a vegan lifestyle, which is far from being the case, as we see that there are no more vegans among environmental activists than in the population as a whole.
The non-profit organisation L.I.A. justified this counter-demonstration by the fact that it believes that environmentalist demonstrators are a public that is receptive to climate concerns and should therefore logically make the connection with the impact of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the agri-food industry. In this respect, we have also seen an excellent reception of this anti-speciesist citizen initiative, which has had a significant impact on the participants in the climate march, who stopped to read our slogans and reflect on the meaning of our militant approach.
Here are some of the slogans used by the anti-speciesist activists: ‘Don’t be a fake! Go Vegan! Want to hear a joke? A climate walk full of non-vegan! Care about climate? Go vegan! No ecology without veganism! etc.
Almost 330 million animals are needlessly slaughtered in Belgium to feed the population. That’s about 1 million animals a day. The LIA does not intend to remain silent in the face of this moral bankruptcy. One of its major objectives is to convey the foundations of anti-speciesist ideology within civil society to force it to consider a major change in the legal status of other animals. Currently considered as furniture, the LIA campaigns for other animals to be recognised as non-human persons.
The other animals and the L.I.A. warmly thank the citizens who took to the streets on this occasion to voice the anti-speciesism in Belgium.
[i] For more information, consult our page : why veganism ?
