Last October, after six years of deliberation, the world adopted the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health.
The Plan broke new ground in acknowledging the role of animal welfare to reduce zoonotic risk and recognised that biodiversity is linked directly to human health. It also warned that, without action, the link could become detrimental.
The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting wrapped up in Panama last week, and provided an opportunity to consider how to boost implementation of the Plan at the national level, for the sake of our future.
What is the Action Plan?
The Global Action Plan is a voluntary plan to support governments in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). This framework was adopted at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) and established a roadmap for a world living in harmony with nature, including recommendations regarding trade in wild animals, animal welfare in food systems, and linkages between biodiversity and climate policy.
The plan includes a strong endorsement of the One Health approach, which recognises that the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment (including ecosystems), are closely linked and interdependent.
Crucially, the Plan acknowledged that animal welfare in farming systems is related to biodiversity and health, calling on governments to “[p]romote improved standards of animal welfare for their health and well-being, including to reduce the risk of communicable disease in farm animals and aquaculture by, inter alia, preventing antimicrobial resistance by avoiding the inappropriate use and disposal of antimicrobials, on the basis of scientific evidence.”
This acknowledges what we in the animal protection movement have known for decades — that the way we farm animals is not just causing harm to them as sentient beings, but is also harming humans.
Why now?
The need to take action to address the biodiversity and health crisis has never been more urgent. The way we interact with animals profoundly impacts human health. Covid-19 was a wake-up call that poor animal welfare conditions can impact us all. More recently, the current H5N1 avian flu claimed the first human death in the US in July, and several fatalities have been reported in Cambodia.
Meanwhile, the WHO cites antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the top global public health threats, with over three million children dying due to antibiotic resistance in 2022. Just last week, the US Centers for Disease Control published a report indicating “a dramatic increase in a dangerous type of drug-resistant bacteria” between 2019 and 2023. AMR is in part driven by the high proportion of antimicrobials administered to farmed animals prophylactically to promote growth and to reduce disease spread resulting from the crowded, unsanitary conditions common to intensive farming.
The exploitation of wild animals in the wildlife trade also poses a significant risk for zoonotic disease emergence, transmission and spillover. These animals are often kept in dense and unsanitary conditions that bring a range of species into close contact with each other, as well as humans, providing an ideal scenario for the evolution and spread of disease among species.
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How can countries turn this global guidance into national action?
Many countries are now preparing their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). Aligning NBSAPs with the recommendations made in the Plan is an important step toward implementation. Further, there is a range of animal welfare policies which can support countries in advancing multiple objectives in the plan at the same time.
For wild animals, “positive lists” which outline a limited list of species that may be used commercially can reduce the health, safety, sustainability and welfare risks associated with the wildlife trade, supporting implementation of the Plan’s recommended actions related to wildlife management.
For domestic animals, countries can also commit to incorporating, at a minimum, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) standards for animal health and welfare, including for aquatic species. Meeting these standards can reduce AMR risk by lessening the need for antimicrobial use, as well as reducing the risk of disease emergence and spillover to biodiversity and humans from unhealthy farm animal populations.
Lastly, cities have a very important role to play. By integrating wild animal welfare into urban planning, they can maximise the health, biodiversity and climate benefits of their policies. This can be achieved by expanding green infrastructure, such as green roofs, protecting and restoring urban ecosystems, and using wildlife-friendly building materials.
The world is at a tipping point, but by implementing the Plan, countries will have an opportunity to build a healthier future. Animal welfare-based policies such as the above can boost successful implementation of the Plan at the national level. As countries update their NBSAPs, it is vital they incorporate policies that promote sustainable practices that benefit humans, animals and ecosystems together.
