07 January 2022 - In February, Nairobi will host the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) and FOUR PAWS, the global animal welfare organisation, has been granted observer status for the key event. The event will provide an opportunity to reiterate FOUR PAWS calls to action to ensure environmental and animal welfare policies are integral to the global recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. Advanced policies such as these will be vital to the delivery of the UN´s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

Sonul Badiani-Hamment, FOUR PAWS UK Country Director, spoke of her pride that FOUR PAWS, who have led on animal welfare advocacy across the world for the past thirty-five years, have been granted the chance to actively participate and engage with member states at the major UN conference. “We are honoured to have been given observer status and are pleased to be a part of the discussion at this important crossroads event. It underlines the importance of animal welfare in this discussion regarding crucial environmental questions and for the advancement of the UN´s SDGs.” 

Sonul Badiani-Hamment also spoke of the “urgent necessity” to “come together and push for transformational change to the world’s patterns of production and consumption.” To achieve this, she said “We need to put green policies, which include animal welfare and food system security, at the very heart of the global recovery from COVID-19, both economically and societally. Any other path would be at best, a missed opportunity, and at worse, a grave dereliction of duty.”  

As we have seen with the Glasgow Climate Pact, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at this year's COP26, the commitment to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030 is essential to tackle the crux of the climate crisis. FOUR PAWS believes this target must be the “minimum requirement” in order to have a long-term lasting effect and meet the Paris Climate Accords targets. 

Finally, Sonul Badiani-Hamment outlined other key reforms which are needed and that FOUR PAWS have been advocating for decades, “We need the UNEA and United Nations Environment Programme to look at the nexus between the environment, animals and the sustainable development goals. By understanding this link and interconnectedness we can address how we can affect the planet in more positive ways through better animal welfare for all animals and the communities that rely on them."