EAF also launched the following ballot initiatives (through its now spun-off project Sentience Politics):
Ban on factory farming (see also this), federal initiative in Switzerland, signatures collected, vote expected in ~2023. Update Sep 2022: This has failed with 37% in favor, see here.
Basic rights for primates (see also this), Canton of Basel-City, signatures collected, initiative first deemed invalid then valid upon appeal, not exactly sure what the status is but I think the vote is expected in ~2021
Sustainable nutrition, Berlin Kreuzberg/Friedrichshain, implemented in a weakened form by the city without a vote in ~2018
Edit: Note that the main idea behind “sustainable nutrition” initiatives was to reduce meat consumption and promote veganism and animal welfare. There are also significant environmental benefits, but those weren’t the main reason for launching the initiatives.
I shared an update on the basic rights for primates initiative here. (TL;DR: The Swiss supreme court has ruled that the initiative is valid, so the vote will finally happen. The ruling has created a lot of national and international headlines.)
I first thought that “counterproposal passed” means that a proposal very different to the one you suggested passed the ballot. But skimming the links, it seems that the counterproposals were actually similar to your original proposals?
That’s correct. The original proposals for sustainable nutrition explicitly mentioned “plant-based” and “animal-friendly” food, but then the counterproposals only said “sustainable” or “environmentally friendly.” So I’d say overall, from an animal welfare perspective, they were moderately successful. We didn’t have the time to evaluate their actual impact, though I think this would be a worthwhile project for EAs, especially if it results in an EA Forum article similar to this one.
EAF also launched the following ballot initiatives (through its now spun-off project Sentience Politics):
Ban on factory farming (see also this), federal initiative in Switzerland, signatures collected, vote expected in ~2023. Update Sep 2022: This has failed with 37% in favor, see here.
Basic rights for primates (see also this), Canton of Basel-City, signatures collected, initiative first deemed invalid then valid upon appeal, not exactly sure what the status is but I think the vote is expected in ~2021
Sustainable nutrition, Lucerne, counterproposal passed (60% in favor) at the ballot in September 2018
Sustainable nutrition, Basel, rejected at the ballot (67% against) on 4 March 2018
Sustainable nutrition, Zurich, counterproposal passed (60% in favor) at the ballot in November 2017
Sustainable nutrition, Berlin Kreuzberg/Friedrichshain, implemented in a weakened form by the city without a vote in ~2018
Edit: Note that the main idea behind “sustainable nutrition” initiatives was to reduce meat consumption and promote veganism and animal welfare. There are also significant environmental benefits, but those weren’t the main reason for launching the initiatives.
I shared an update on the basic rights for primates initiative here. (TL;DR: The Swiss supreme court has ruled that the initiative is valid, so the vote will finally happen. The ruling has created a lot of national and international headlines.)
Update: The basic rights for primates initiative was rejected, with 74.7% of voters against, 25.3% in favor.
I first thought that “counterproposal passed” means that a proposal very different to the one you suggested passed the ballot. But skimming the links, it seems that the counterproposals were actually similar to your original proposals?
That’s correct. The original proposals for sustainable nutrition explicitly mentioned “plant-based” and “animal-friendly” food, but then the counterproposals only said “sustainable” or “environmentally friendly.” So I’d say overall, from an animal welfare perspective, they were moderately successful. We didn’t have the time to evaluate their actual impact, though I think this would be a worthwhile project for EAs, especially if it results in an EA Forum article similar to this one.
Update: The federal ban on factory farming has failed with 37% in favor, see here for more details.