A good rule of thumb at the United Nations is simple: if an issue is not reflected in resolutions, it rarely reaches budgets, programmes, or national implementation at scale. That is why the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) matters for animals.
Each year, all 193 UN Member States come together at the General Assembly to set political direction and agree on shared language across peace and security, development, and human rights. The decisions taken in New York shape government priorities, influence how UN agencies frame their work, and guide how funding and programmes are delivered worldwide.
For the World Federation for Animals (WFA), UNGA is a strategic moment. It is where we work to position animal welfare as a practical and necessary contributor to the Sustainable Development Agenda, rather than a standalone or secondary concern.
At the 80th session of UNGA (UNGA 80), WFA monitored key resolutions and negotiations where animal welfare intersects with global priorities, including sustainable agriculture, food security, biodiversity, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and One Health. We also engaged in discussions on how animal welfare can be better integrated into existing UN commitments and policy frameworks.
What UNGA 80 delivered for animals
UNGA outcomes rarely arrive as a single headline for animals. Instead, progress tends to emerge through the policy architecture that shapes food systems, biodiversity action, and public health. UNGA 80 resolutions followed this familiar pattern.
Resolution on agriculture, food security, and nutrition
The clearest progress for animals came through the resolution on agriculture, food security, and nutrition.
For the first time, this resolution anchors food systems in the operational One Health definition used across the UN system. This matters because it moves One Health from a broad concept to an agreed reference point that can be cited and built on across UN policy processes.
“Recalls the operational definition of One Health agreed by the One Health High-level Expert Panel, supported by FAO, WHO, WOAH and UNEP…”
This creates a stronger foundation for treating animal health and welfare as integral to food system governance, and reinforces the understanding that human, animal, and environmental health are deeply interconnected.
The resolution also calls for greater ambition to protect working animals and explicitly recognises animal health and welfare as contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Calls for increased ambition and urgency of action to protect working animals and to strengthen global efforts to ensure that animal health and welfare can contribute to addressing challenges and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”
Beyond this, the resolution:
- Maintains a clear link between agriculture and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is critical given the close connection between AMR and industrial animal farming.
- Reinforces the relationship between resilient food systems and healthier diets, recognising that production methods affect animals as well as people
- Supports continued follow-through on the UN Food Systems Summit process, a key pathway for advancing more sustainable and welfare-sensitive food systems
Biodiversity resolution
Progress on biodiversity came through the resolution welcoming the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health and encouraging countries to implement it and report on progress.
This is particularly relevant for animals because the Global Action Plan, adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2024, explicitly acknowledges the importance of the welfare of terrestrial and aquatic farm animals.
“Welcomes the adoption of the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health […] and encourages Parties to implement it when mainstreaming biodiversity and health interlinkages […]”
The resolution also recognises that biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation increase the risk of zoonotic spillover from wildlife to people, and urges governments to mainstream biodiversity into recovery planning and broader pandemic-risk reduction efforts.
“[…] the loss and degradation of biodiversity increases the risk of zoonotic disease spillover from wildlife to people […]”
While animal welfare is not explicitly named, this outcome strengthens the prevention-at-source framing and reinforces One Health and other holistic approaches. It creates space to advance animal-related priorities in future United Nations discussions on the biodiversity, health, and Pandemics nexus.
Resolution on sustainable consumption and production
A third relevant outcome for animals came through the resolution on sustainable consumption and production.
The resolution draws a clear line between circular economy approaches and major global pressures, including climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, water stress, and pollution, and links these pressures directly to human health impacts.
“Acknowledging that pursuing circular economy approaches […] can contribute to addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, water stress and pollution and their impact on human health […]”
Although the resolution does not explicitly reference animal welfare or One Health, it reinforces systems-level UN framing. This framing allows animal welfare to be positioned as part of broader solutions to environmental and health challenges in future policy cycles.
What comes next for animals at the UN
UNGA 80 showed that progress for animals within the UN system is possible. The explicit recognition of animal health and welfare in the agriculture resolution, alongside the inclusion of One Health across multiple resolutions, represents meaningful forward movement.
Looking ahead, 2026 offers several opportunities to advance animal welfare further, including the UN Water Conference, where links between water, food systems, land use, ecosystem health, and community resilience are directly relevant to animal survival and welfare.
UNGA resolutions matter for animals because they shape national strategies, donor priorities, and future UN agency programmes. UNGA 80 demonstrated that when animal welfare is integrated into mainstream UN frameworks, it creates openings for practical and scalable change.
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