Putting animals on the agenda at the United Nations

By Cebuan Bliss and Andrea Schapper

In March 2022 there was excited, hushed anticipation at the back of a United Nations (UN) assembly hall in Nairobi, Kenya. A group of animal protection NGOs and state delegates were waiting with bated breath to hear the passing of the Nexus resolution on the animal welfare-environment-sustainable development nexus, which was being adopted at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA).

Jf Brou via Unsplash

This moment was the culmination of years of hard work to get animal welfare on the agenda at the UN. Animals were previously only considered as members of species, for example in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 14 and 15, life below water and life on land. They were not taken seriously as individuals themselves.

[Governments] should create a UN organisation working on animal protection, with legal instruments that recognise animal interests. This would elevate animal concerns to allow their negotiation at an international level between member states.

However, in our article published in International Relations investigating the consideration of animal interests at the UN, we find that despite rhetoric of transformative change, there has been little change in practice. This is because anthropocentric, short-term goals have been prioritised. For instance, economic growth, and infrastructure, industry and innovation are the focus of SDGs 8 and 9. The systemic societal structures underpinned by such goals reinforce a separation between humans and nature. Ultimately, this does not lead to long-term sustainable development. Many of the goals also have the potential to conflict with one another. For example, a large-scale hydroelectric dam project producing clean energy, strengthening climate action and fostering economic growth (SDGs 7, 8, 13), can adversely affect local biodiversity and the habitats of individual animals (SDG 15). If such conflict occurs, economically-motivated and human-centred goals, i.e. the dam, are often prioritised over animal and ecosystem concerns.

Nevertheless, we see possibilities for hope of using UN institutions to cement stronger protection for animal interests. In our article, we suggest four ways of doing this:

UNEP HQ. Photo by Cebuan Bliss

1) One way of doing so is to create a UN organisation working on animal protection, with legal instruments that recognise animal interests. This would elevate animal concerns to allow their negotiation at an international level between member states. In conjunction with the World Federation for Animals (WFA), a UN animal protection organisation would enhance cooperation with other UN bodies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the One-Health High Level Expert Panel. This would enable the advancement of animal health and welfare protection around the world, and open up a forum for the discussion of legal protection of animals’ rights.

2) As animals as individuals are not explicitly included in the SDGs, we support the idea of an additional SDG (or the next iteration of such goals post-2030) on animal welfare. Ingrid Visseren-Hamakers states that an 18th SDG on animal health, welfare and rights would forefront this neglected but vital dimension of the sustainable development agenda. We can’t have truly fair and ethical sustainable development without other animals in the picture.

3)  Rights of Nature are increasingly recognised in national constitutions and legislation. There has even been examples of this framework being used to protect not just species and ecosystems, but also animals. Given its global importance as an institution, the UN could act as a forum to advance non-anthropocentric norms and standards through a Rights of Nature approach. This approach could also integrate and advance animal rights.

4) Finally, introducing procedural rights for animals could be a truly transformative way of putting animals on the agenda. This could even mean they would have the right to participation in decision-making processes that directly affect them. Think, for example, animals farmed for human use being given a voice when it comes to how they are treated. This is not as far-fetched as it may sound, as the right to participation could be realised through scientific experts or legal guardians. Introducing such procedural rights should be conditional for funding linked to the UN SDGs.

So where do we go from here? Although initial progress has been slow, in March 2024, the first report on the Nexus resolution will be published at UNEA. Will the agenda become truly transformative? With the biodiversity crisis continuing unabated, and with animal sentience increasingly recognised, now is the time to start thinking truly transformatively about how we are going to co-habit in our multispecies societies in the future. A kinder, more just and more compassionate world is perhaps one worth striving for.

Cebuan Bliss is a PhD candidate in the Environmental Governance and Politics Group at Radboud University, Nijmegen.

Andrea Schapper is a Professor in International Politics at the University of Stirling.

This article is original content published under a Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.