Developments in science and ethics show that safeguarding animal welfare is an important goal in its own right. Nevertheless, animal welfare remains a marginal issue in sustainable development governance. In 2015, the world’s governments adopted a universal development agenda, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which expresses a desire for a world in which humanity lives in harmony with nature and in which wildlife and other living species are protected.
So far, none of the 2030 Agenda’s 169 targets references the welfare of individual animals. Fifty years after the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration, we argue that the lack of consideration of animal welfare in sustainable development policymaking has been an important oversight. Our current treatment of animals affects our ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and both human-induced environmental challenges and our interventions to mitigate or adapt to them often affect animals.
Verkuijl, Sebo, Hötzel, Visseren-Hamakers, Achakulwisut, Bastos Lima and Green identify three key pathways for mainstreaming animal welfare into sustainable development policymaking: (a) considering animal welfare in international policy and legal instruments; (b) improving national and local policies to more fully reflect animal welfare concerns while ensuring other social, health and economic goals are met; and (c) paving the way for additional action through improved knowledge, capacity building, representation and international cooperation.
Mainstreaming animal welfare concerns into sustainable development policy will require transformative changes to key industries, practices and values, and it may encounter resistance from interest groups. It will require innovative thinking to maximize synergies and minimize trade-offs between different areas of sustainable development policy, including through just transition planning and support. Nevertheless, giving more consideration to animal welfare in sustainable development is an opportunity to implement a wide range of policies that benefit humans and non-human animals alike.
This paper is part of a series that supports the Stockholm+50: Unlocking a better future report.
Project / The independent report for the Stockholm+50 meeting proposes policy actions to overcome the barriers that stand in the way of sustainable, equitable development
Other publication / Technology transfers, as well as financing, are needed for low- and middle-income countries to have an equitable and just transition.
Other publication / As the energy transition goes forward, it is our responsibility to make sure it is done in a just and equitable way.
Other publication / Normalizing sustainability in finance requires changing global and national financial structures.
Design and development by Soapbox.
