Missing in our SDG goals: The welfare of animals
In 2030, the world will reckon with the end of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) programme, a global agenda to resolve and prevent environmental crises impacting millions of lives. The 17 SDGs address crucial issues and guide nations in their pursuit of sustainability in the era of the climate crisis. Importantly, SDGs shed light on the interrelatedness of issues, including gender equality, education, sanitation, and so on. However, lost in the mix is the crisis of animals.
The welfare of animals — including those for food production and animal husbandry, used in scientific experimentation, used for labour, companion animals, and wild animals — has a positive impact on our environment and society. So, why are animals missing from the SDGs?
While criticising the SDG framework, we must remember that the goals are suggestive, not prescriptive. This gives us the room to alter our goals and enforce a plan that harmonises the health, safety, well-being, and quality of life of people and animals. The government, however, does not use this opportunity. As of 2018, the department of animal husbandry and dairying was involved in achieving only one SDG, “life below water”, which seeks to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”.
The plan, however, misses the wood for the trees. It does not consider critical elements of “life below water” such as marine biodiversity, populations of aquatic animals, the maintenance or restoration of lakes and rivers, and the health of coral reefs. It also does not penalise industries for polluting waters or spread awareness about these fundamental oceanic issues among citizens. India’s plan for the oceans misrepresents a view of marine pollution, overfishing, and loss of marine biodiversity as independent of the rest of the natural environment.
Further, India’s plan for “life on land” is designed along similar lines. It measures progress in terms of reduced wildlife trafficking and land degradation and increased green cover without looking into ecosystem health, species biodiversity, population sizes, and the loss of forest land to animal husbandry.
The exclusion of animal welfare is surprising in the case of “zero hunger” — another goal — which calls for ensuring “sustainable food production systems” by 2030. The milestones for this goal ignore a key connection: 77% of farming land in India is used for livestock production and management. Agriculture alone is responsible for nearly 75% of India’s methane emissions, of which almost a quarter can be traced directly to animal agriculture.
“The demand for animal-based food products and increasing proportions of plant-based foods in diets, particularly pulses and nuts; and replacing red meat with other more efficient protein sources are demand-side adaptation measures,” according to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on the interlinking of the climate crisis and land.
India pledged that it will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2070. Methane is the second-worst greenhouse gas, with a larger impact on the environment than CO2. Without curtailing animal agriculture, is such a promise realistic?
The story becomes bleaker as we explore other SDGs. SDG-12, perhaps one with the greatest overlap with animal welfare, is “sustainable consumption and production”. India’s plan to achieve this goal centres around fossil fuels, fertilisers, and hazardous plastic and biomedical wastes. Nowhere in the plan is there a mention of the unethical and energy-inefficient animal agriculture used for food production.
The SDGs are about fundamental issues such as hunger, poverty, access to water, gender equality, health, the climate crisis, and sustainability. India must take action to address the disconnect between animal welfare and human welfare. We need pragmatism and compassion in India’s efforts to reach these SDGs. A just future can only be possible through an equitable environment for all inhabitants of the planet.