SUSTAINABILITY: A new report from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) has outlined how the welfare and regard for the moral importance of nonhuman animals is key to meeting international sustainability targets. Claire Hamlett reports.

On June 2 and 3, the United Nations (UN) will hold a meeting to mark 50 years since its Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 which resulted in the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for the Human Environment. This year’s meeting, called ‘A healthy planet for the prosperity of all - our responsibility, our opportunity’, is billed as a springboard for accelerating the delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement on climate change, the post-2020 global Biodiversity Framework, and encourage the adoption of green post-COVID-19 recovery plans.

Ahead of the meeting, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) has released a report stating that the world has largely failed to deliver on the ambitions of the 1972 conference. It urges humanity to redefine its relationship with nature “from one of extraction to one of care” in order to tackle the interconnected crises we are faced with, from climate change to rising inequality. The report lists a number of calls to action, one of which is to “Protect animal welfare by mainstreaming it in sustainable development governance” based on a publication by academics from SEI and Jeff Sebo, a professor at New York University who was recently interviewed by Surge on his new book, Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves.

The publication, Mainstreaming animal welfare in sustainable development, notes that while the 1972 Stockholm Declaration references animals several times, mainly regarding species conservation, it doesn’t address “the health or welfare of animals at the individual level.” Nor does the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the world’s governments in 2015, in any of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or 169 targets. This is a significant oversight, explains the report, since “Many of the ways in which we currently interact with animals limit our ability to achieve our sustainable development goals.” It also stresses that animals’ welfare is worth protecting for its own sake and that animals ought to be recognised as being morally important.

The report highlights how the exploitation of animals, particularly through industrial animal agriculture and the wildlife trade, harms human health and the environment. It also outlines the ways in which unsustainable development harms animals, such as from climate change, as well as how interventions to improve sustainability can negatively impact animals. Shifting from beef to chicken production for climate reasons, for example, “might adversely affect animal welfare, due to the number of birds involved and the particularly intensive conditions in which they are raised.”

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The report recommends several pathways for integrating animal welfare into sustainable development policies. These include strengthening and broadening the ‘One Health’ framework – as Sebo discusses in his book – which takes a holistic view of human, environmental, and animal health. Making the framework less anthropocentric could help us to move away from harmful industries like animal agriculture, with co-benefits for people and the environment. Animal health and welfare could also be included in political declarations, such as creating an 18th SDG focused on the issue, and integrated into new and existing legal regimes, such as the several international conventions on wildlife trade and biodiversity, which are currently only concerned with population rather than individual health or animals.

Economic incentives and regulatory measures could also be used to promote animal welfare, such as by redirecting subsidies away from animal agriculture towards plant-based alternatives, reducing procurement of animal products in the public sector, and divesting state funds from industries that harm animals, humans, and the planet. Governments could require “animal impact assessments for policies that will significantly affect animals”, similar to existing environmental impact assessments. Supporting a just transition away from animal industries through compensation schemes and new investment in alternatives is also key.

But it’s not necessarily enough to just leave animals alone. As we try to build more sustainable communities, we will need to consider how to provide for animals’ needs too, such as in the form of appropriate infrastructure or assistance when climate disasters strike. The report argues that we would be better equipped to do this if we ensure “representation for animals in processes that affect them.” Some options for this include creating roles for animal welfare officers in government. Other researchers have suggested more radical measures to help us listen to and include animal voices in decision-making processes, such as those relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

It’s crucial that animal welfare and health are seen as a central part of the equation as we try to fix the existential mess we’re in. Too often debates around how humans can live more sustainably and reduce our exploitation of animals to the related greenhouse gas emissions without thinking about the animals at all. As the report concludes, “Bringing animal welfare into the realm of sustainable development is an opportunity to create a healthier, more compassionate and more sustainable world for all.”

Claire Hamlett is a freelance journalist, writer and regular contributor at Surge. Based in Oxford, UK, Claire tells stories that challenge systemic exploitation of and disregard for animals and the environment and that point to a better way of doing things.

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