Mainstreaming Animal Welfare

The document identifies a gap in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, noting that none of its 169 targets reference individual animal welfare. It argues that this oversight hinders the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and proposes three pathways for integration: incorporating welfare into international legal instruments, improving national and local policies, and enhancing knowledge and international cooperation. The authors acknowledge that this process will require transformative changes to industries and values, necessitating innovative thinking and just transition planning to manage trade-offs.

• Despite the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development's goal of harmony with nature, none of its 169 targets specifically address the welfare of individual animals, which the authors describe as an important oversight in sustainable development policymaking.
• The authors propose three specific pathways to mainstream animal welfare: integrating it into international policy and legal instruments, enhancing national and local policies to balance welfare with social and economic goals, and increasing capacity through knowledge, representation, and cooperation.
• Mainstreaming animal welfare will necessitate transformative changes to values and industries, likely facing resistance and requiring just transition planning to manage synergies and trade-offs between different sustainable development policies.

APA

Verkuijl, Sebo, Hötzel, Visseren-Hamakers, Achakulwisut, Lima, B., & Green (2022). Mainstreaming Animal Welfare. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/publications/mainstreaming-animal-welfare/

Chicago

Verkuijl, Sebo, Hötzel, Visseren-Hamakers, Achakulwisut, Bastos Lima, and Green. Mainstreaming Animal Welfare. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/publications/mainstreaming-animal-welfare/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Verkuijl |last2=Sebo |last3=Hötzel |last4=Visseren-Hamakers |last5=Achakulwisut |last6=Lima |first6=Bastos |last7=Green |title=Mainstreaming Animal Welfare |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=18 May 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/mainstreaming-animal-welfare/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{verkuijl2022mainstreaming, author = {Verkuijl and Sebo and Hötzel and Visseren-Hamakers and Achakulwisut and Lima, Bastos and Green}, title = {{Mainstreaming Animal Welfare}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/mainstreaming-animal-welfare/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }