Displaying items by tag: High Level Political Forum

We are pleased to announce the release of a new resource, Guidance for Animal Protection Organizations: Engaging the United Nations High Level Political Forum and the Sustainable Development Agenda, providing information on how animal protection organizations can engage the Sustainable Development Agenda at the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Agenda is a useful policy stream for animal protection organizations to become active in because of the many areas in which sustainable development intersects with animal wellbeing. The Sustainable Development Agenda, also called the 2030 Agenda, contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), each of which comprises Targets (what needs to be achieved for the goal to be fully implemented) and Indicators (how can that achievement be measured).

The Sustainable Development Goals and Animals

Animal Protection Organizations (APOs) across the world were once again disappointed when the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were agreed by UN member countries back in September 2015. These included no specific mention of Animal Welfare (AW), and no recognition of animal sentience. Instead, animals were lumped in with “natural resources”, and treated as if they were no more than inanimate objects to be divvied up for human use and profit. We were not alone in our disappointment, as other NGOs also pointed to the anthropocentric nature of the goals, and the fact that they overlook the central importance of nature and animals to our world and our humanity.