The nitrogen challenge

Andrea Perez, Senior International Affairs Manager, was busy at the Bonn Climate Conference in June, highlighting the importance of a key aspect for climate, the environment and food security: managing nitrogen sustainably.

Industrial animal agriculture leads to excessive use of nitrogen – which causes air and water pollution, soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and the release of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide.

That’s why Andrea led a productive workshop with a call to governments to accelerate global action on nitrogen, via finance, subsidy reform and farmer support. Representatives from Japan, the UK, Romania, and Sri Lanka shared their experiences tackling the challenge.

The Dakar Declaration

In Senegal, Federica di Leonardo, our Senior International Affairs Manager, fed into crucial discussions at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock Multistakeholder Partnership Meeting. The Animal Welfare Action Network’s side event, to which we contributed, focused on improving welfare for animals farmed outdoors, in increasingly extreme climates across Africa.

There are many benefits to high welfare farming of these animals: low‑stress handling, better access to good quality water and shade, and disease prevention support livelihoods, climate adaptation, and biodiversity, too.

Signed at the meeting, the Dakar Declaration was a milestone acknowledgement by major players that animal health and welfare are indispensable for sustainable, resilient agriculture.

High level commitment

Our Global Head of International Affairs, Nicholas Ceolin, also joined one of the most important UN HQ moments of the year, to advocate for animals. At the High Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development, which tracks progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, he joined World Federation for Animals in focusing attention on the key role that improving animal welfare can play in global sustainable development.

Highlights of our international advocacy for animals