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LOS ANGELES (Jan. 11, 2022) – On Tuesday, Mercy For Animals, along with 11 other organizations, submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of State requesting support for a resolution that would introduce animal welfare as an essential policy concern of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The letter and resolution are viewable here.
“Mercy For Animals is proud to support this resolution, which offers the global community an opportunity to make significant improvements in animal welfare that will also help address the environmental degradation caused by industrial animal agriculture,” said AJ Albrecht, Mercy For Animals’ director of government affairs. “By calling on UNEP’s executive director to ensure promotion of animal welfare within the UN Environment Programme, the resolution recognizes the need for immediate and concrete action to protect animals, human health, and the environment.”
The letter comes ahead of the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, which will meet February 28 through March 2 online and in Nairobi, Kenya.
The 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 envisaged a world in which “humanity lives in harmony with nature and in which wildlife and other living species are protected.” However, dedicated action to protect animals and their welfare in the UN policy process has been insufficient, causing devastating consequences, including biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and harm to global public and environmental health.
Ghana submitted the resolution for adoption, joined by co-sponsors Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Pakistan. It needs a simple majority of the 193 member states to pass.
Notes to Editors
For more information or to be connected with AJ Albrecht, contact [email protected].
Mercy For Animals is a leading international nonprofit working to end industrial animal agriculture by constructing a just and sustainable food system. Active in Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, and the United States, the organization has conducted more than 100 investigations of factory farms and slaughterhouses, influenced more than 500 corporate policies, and helped pass historic legislation to ban cages for farmed animals. Join us at MercyForAnimals.org.