Copenhagen Student Union Adopts Demand for 100% Plant-Based Canteens

Photo: Vladyslav Ostroukhov.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — The student union at the University of Copenhagen (KU), Studenterrådet, has adopted a demand for all new canteens at the university to be 100% plant-based. The proposal passed without objection at the union's general assembly on 3 October 2026. It covers a university of roughly 37,000 students and 9,000 staff . Until now, the union's political programme only asked KU's canteens to offer climate-friendly food "including plant-based options". The new wording in its Political Action Programme for 2027 goes much further: existing canteens must have concrete plans to become plant-based as soon as possible, and during the transition, dishes that are not plant-based must be clearly labelled.

The timing matters. KU's canteens are run by external operators, and the university is currently coordinating its canteen procurement, with new contracts expected around December. The proposal came from within the union itself and the Plant-Based Campus chapter at KU has been in dialogue with union representatives since meeting them at a student fair, and its members attended the general assembly to support the change. Studenterrådet also has two student representatives on KU's board, the university's highest authority, and meets the university's leadership regularly.

Mateusz Psujek, coordinator of Plant-Based Campus Copenhagen, says:

"The Student Union's unanimous vote sends a clear message: it's time for plant-based catering at our university. The message is especially timely, as KU considers abandoning its GHG emissions reduction goals for 2030. We can no longer overlook effective, straightforward mitigation measures — like plant-based catering — if we are to reach our targets."

KU aims to halve its climate footprint per full-time employee by 2030 compared with 2018. In April, the university's leadership said the target looks very hard to reach and that it plans to discuss revising it with the board. Food systems account for around a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, which makes canteens one of the quickest levers a university can pull to practise what it teaches.

The decision follows similar wins in Sweden, where LUNA, the science students' union at Lund University, and the Uppsala student union adopted motions for plant-based catering in 2025 and 2026. Plant-Based Campus is now active across 20 campuses in 6 countries.

Fill out the form here to join an existing Plant-Based Campus campaign, or start a new one.

Plant-Based Campus is a democratic, student-led campaign working with universities and higher education institutions to transition to 100% plant-based catering to reduce environmental impacts.