As we prepare for the 28th UN Climate Conference (COP28) in Dubai, our team is packing a powerful message: animal welfare is a critical piece of the climate puzzle. Alongside our members, we are ready to engage with country delegates from around the world to explore how safeguarding animals can strengthen climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Two strategies are key: (1) protecting wildlife and ecosystems to enhance carbon sequestration and storage, and (2) transforming food systems, supporting a shift towards plant-based food production and consumption. Here are a few of the many things we’ll be doing:
Exhibit: To protect animals is to protect the planet
In partnership with Eurogroup for Animals and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, we are setting up an exhibit from December 4 to 6. Our booth will be a hub of activity featuring meet and greet with experts, videos, and reports that unveil the intricate link between animal welfare, ecological integrity, and sustainable development. If you are planning to attend COP28, come by Booth 18!
Side-event: Bringing elephants into the room
Mark your calendars for December 11, at 11:30 Dubai time, as we bring a crucial yet overlooked topic to the forefront at an official COP28 side event: the role of wild animals in the carbon cycle. This event is being organised in collaboration with the Global Rewilding Alliance, Re:wild, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and Yale School of the Environment, among others. Speakers will articulate the urgency of rewilding ecosystems and restoring wildlife populations to tackle both, biodiversity loss and climate change. The Aquatic Life Institute will be joining us to speak on why transforming the food system needs to happen in tandem with such efforts. Luckily, you don’t have to be in Dubai to hear these fascinating discussions, you can watch them here.
Pavilion: food 4 climate
From 30 November to 12 December, World Animal Protection and ProVeg will be co-hosting the “food 4 climate” pavilion. Together with their partners, including Mercy for Animals, FOUR PAWS, and Compassion in World Farming, they will be bringing food system transformation to the heart of the international climate agenda.
For example, Aquatic Life Institute and Mercy for Animals will be hosting an event “Doing Blue Foods Right” on 5 December. You can register here. More information about this and other events at the pavilion coming up soon here.
Side-event: Unveiling industrial farming’s hidden climate destruction in the Global South
World Animal Protection and FOUR PAWS will be hosting a side event with the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre on how industrial animal farming emissions exacerbate climate disasters in the Global South. They will examine the urgent need to include ambitious food systems transformation in national plans to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C. Find them on 2 December at 16:45 in SE Room 9 or online!
Side-event: Food systems transformation: elevating healthy diets & protein diversification as climate solutions
Two of our members, Compassion in World Farming and Brighter Green, will be co-hosting this official side event with ProVeg, the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, the Baha’i International Community, and the World Conference of Religions for Peace. Catch them on 4 December at 13:15 in SE Room 7 / Blue Zone or here.
Photo credit: Gabriel Dizzi on Unsplash
