The current United Nations agenda for Sustainable Development “systematically neglects” animal health and welfare. This shortcoming threatens progress toward the goals related to human health, environmental protection, and social equity.
The alert is issued in a report published recently by experts from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the New York University Center for Environmental and Animal Protection.
The authors say that, although there is increasing support for the “One Health” approach, which recognizes the importance of the links between human, animal and environmental health, the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “continue to be incomplete without the systematic inclusion of animal health and welfare.”
The document notes that neglecting these two pillars can exacerbate risks such as the emergence of zoonoses (infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans), antimicrobial resistance, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, while solutions that can simultaneously benefit both humans and animals are ignored.
“If we want a sustainable development agenda that is coherent and effective, we cannot continue to treat animal welfare as something secondary,” says Cleo Verkuijl, a senior scientist at SEI and co-author of the report.
“Improving animal welfare can help address the causes of many global crises, from pandemics to climate change, while also improving livelihoods and public health,” she notes.
For better integration of animal welfare and health into the global governance of Sustainable Development, the rapporteurs recommend strengthening animal welfare in the current implementation of the SDGs, for example, by incorporating coexistence with wild animals into urban planning, something covered by SDG 11, concerning the sustainability, inclusivity, safety and resilience of human cities.
Another recommendation is the introduction of new targets and indicators for the SDGs, that reflect “the human-animal-environment interconnections,” and this could involve adding metrics to reduce the transmission of zoonoses or phasing out subsidies that promote environmentally harmful agricultural practices.
Another suggestion involves the creation of an SDG specifically dedicated to animal health and welfare, placing this issue on par with other global priorities and reinforcing the principles of the “One Health” approach.
The authors of this report argue that priority should be given to transforming the industrial livestock and fishing systems, the inclusion of animal welfare in conservation and the fight against wildlife trafficking, the assessment of the impacts on animal welfare of infrastructure and technological innovation and the strengthening of education and scientific research aimed at comprehensive solutions aligned with the “One Health” vision.
