Joining ambition with expertise
On this World Environment Day, WFA is pleased to be coordinating efforts to advance animal protection at the UN Environment Assembly. As part of this, WFA is glad to announce its partnership with the Global Pact coalition towards the 2022 declaration!
In 2022, the UN will adopt a Political Declaration at the UN Environment Assembly to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment and the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). States and civil society organisations are currently debating the content of this Declaration and WFA will advocate for animals not to be left aside and for animal welfare and protection to be included in the text of the Declaration.
Why is this Declaration important?
This 2022 Declaration comes at a critical juncture for the global environment. It needs to be as ambitious as possible to achieve what is needed to save our environment.
Although not legally binding, a Declaration can effectively tackle pressing environmental matters. It can give guidance to lawmakers and the judiciary by compelling States into action. It can enshrine existing principles of environmental law on the international level or even recognise new principles, such as animals, who are part of biodiversity and our environment and must be protected as a whole. It can address the fragmentation of environmental law and governance and provide a roadmap for effective implementation of existing and future treaties.
New blog platform for the 2022 Declaration
To push for a declaration that matches the urgency of the current environmental crisis, the Global Pact Coalition will propose a 2022 declaration for adoption at the next UN Environment Assembly.
WFA particularly supports this initiative towards a Global Pact for the Environment to put animal welfare at the heart of policies for planetary health. If we want to build a sustainable future, the UN must recognise the close linkages between animal, human, and environmental health and welfare, the importance of which have been highlighted over the past year.
The Pathway to the 2022 Declaration platform launched by Global Pact Coalition is a blog by jurists, for diplomats. Led by the world’s foremost authorities in environmental law, the blog’s experts will offer concrete proposals to the diplomats negotiating the 2022 Declaration. WFA will also contribute to this blog.
The blog’s Advisory Board is headed by former COP 21/Paris Agreement President Laurent Fabius. Its members include the current UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment and his predecessor, Supreme Court judges, as well as renowned professors of international law.
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