Historic Win for Animals and the Environment
On March 2, 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5) passed a historic resolution recognizing the link between animal welfare and environmental crises.
What happened on March 2nd at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) was a truly historic moment! The Resolution on the Nexus between Animal Welfare, Environment and Sustainable Development was passed unanimously – scoring a momentous victory for animals on a global scale.
The resolution was introduced by Ghana and co-sponsored by six other Member States: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Pakistan. It calls on the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director to prepare a report exploring the link between animal welfare, the environment and sustainable development. Notably, it calls on UNEP to implement the findings of the report; on Member States to protect animals and their habitats; and on UNEP to promote animal welfare.
Animal rights groups from around the world coalesced around this opportunity to urge environment ministries around the world to support the resolution. It is the first time that an UNEA resolution makes explicit reference to animal welfare and recognizes its ripple effects on other sustainable development issues such as biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution and zoonotic disease. It will allow animal welfare stakeholders to work with the United Nations in ensuring that animal welfare considerations are duly reflected at the UN and international institutional levels (e.g., UNEP, FAO, WHO, and OIE).
From our perspective, in evaluating the ethical, environmental and socio-economic issues around sustainable development policies, we argue that animal welfare (including aquatic animals) should be an integral component of such policies. For this reason, in late 2021, we published a report entitled Benefits of Aquatic Animal Welfare for Sustainability. This report — which was primarily addressed at decision-makers — aimed to highlight the inextricable link between high aquatic animal welfare and high environmental sustainability. Our report promotes the 'One Health' approach proposed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and offers recommendations for achieving a truly sustainable food system. We are thrilled that animal welfare has been formally recognized and enshrined at the highest level of international institutions, and that our efforts at highlighting the nexus between aquatic animal welfare and sustainable development will be given much greater attention.