Greens on Richmond Council are calling for a ban on meat and dairy at its events and efforts to look at removing them from school dinners.

Supporters of the idea argue the move would help tackle the climate emergency by reducing the greenhouse gas emissions linked to livestock farming.

Resident Cleve West, who is a vegan and animal rights supporter, and Green councillors supported the move in questions to the Council Leader, Gareth Roberts, at a meeting last week.

The Council has previously agreed to become carbon-netural by 2030 after declaring a climate emergency in 2019. However, it has rejected calls for a total ban on meat and dairy.

Cllr Roberts said council events already offer vegan or vegetarian options and the authority's schools have introduced meat free Mondays.

Green councillor Andrée Frieze put forward a motion asking the authority to transition to fully plant-based catering at all events by April 2023. This would ban meat and dairy products from being served.

She said the move would help the authority cut waste, cater for different requirements and be cheaper at the time of a cost of living crisis.

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The councillor argued the change is not about personal contributions but leadership and achieving the Council's targets.

She said: "This motion is not about telling people not to eat meat, not to eat dairy … But it is about saying that we are taking every possible step as a council to reduce our carbon emissions of which the council's catering is a small but important part."

The motion was rejected by the Lib-Dem Council with other representatives saying people should have a choice and questioning how much difference it would make.

Lib Dem councillor James Chard said: "I just think we should all exercise our own opportunity individually to set an example… we should be very, very careful about requiring of others more than we require of ourselves."

Hitting out at the response, Councillor Frieze said: "Our young people are facing having a society of no choice.

"If we don't act on the climate crisis, parts of the country, parts of Europe are going to become inhabitable."

She added: "This is a sign and a symbol that we are taking this seriously."

After the meeting, Cllr Alexander Ehmann, deputy leader of the Council, criticised the Greens saying: "At its best, proposal was virtue signalling; worst case scenario it was beginning of wider plan to eliminate meat choice from schools, council supported events and weddings on council land."

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This was denied by Cllr Frieze, whose small Green Party group, is the official opposition on the Council.