Displaying items by tag: Animal Agriculture

This is a guest post prepared by Caroline Wimberly of Brighter Green. She attended the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP)23 in Bonn, Germany last month and reports on various civil society activities which brought attention to the link between animal agriculture and climate change. For more information on outcomes of COP23 and emerging advocacy opportunities for animal protection organizations see Janice Cox’s blog on COP23.

This blog analyses reports on the outcomes of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP)23, and outlines opportunities for animal protection organizations that have emerged as a result. For more information on activities at the conference from an on-the-ground perspective, please see this guest post from Caroline Wimberly of Brighter Green, who attended the COP23 in Bonn, Germany.

One important, yet low-profile, outcome from this year’s climate change conference was the end of a deadlock on agriculture which has lasted for years.

What is it?

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is an opportunity for decision-makers, stakeholders and civil society organizations to convene in Nairobi, Kenya, with the aim of taking policy action for the environment. This year’s UNEA is taking place from 4-6 December under the theme of “Towards a pollution free future.” You can read more about UNEA in our recent blogs.

WAN is now making final preparations for our attendance next week of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya. United Nations Environment, which hosts UNEA, is the leading environmental policymaking body globally. The theme of this year’s UNEA is pollution, and so WAN is looking to use this opportunity to raise awareness of the significant contribution to pollution of animal agriculture.

WAN participated in the 2014 People’s Climate March, where we brought a giant inflatable cow emblazoned with the words, “I’m full of greenhouse gases, do you have steak in it?” Three years later, we are proud partners of the People’s Climate March, which will take place April 29th. There will be numerous marches in the United States, but also around the world. As partners of the March, we want to take the opportunity to call on animal advocates to take part in the March.

On the weekend of December 12 and 13, 2015, something monumental happened—representatives of 195 nations adopted a climate agreement in Paris at COP 21. For the first time in history, nearly every country on the planet is committed to working to limit dangerous greenhouse emissions to combat the worst impacts of climate change. More specifically, these nations have agreed to pursue efforts to slow the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 Celcius degrees above pre-industrial levels. Among the legally binding elements of the agreement are the requirements to submit emission reduction targets and regularly review those goals.

The Paris Climate Conference

The next annual Conference of the Parties (COP 21) of the UN Framework on Climate Change – also called the 2015 Paris Climate Conference - will take place in Paris from November 30th to December 11th. This issue is in the words of Pope Francis: “a principal challenge for humanity”, and this will be a crucial conference, as it needs to achieve a new international agreement on the climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C. It is expected to attract close to 50,000 participants including 25,000 official delegates from government, intergovernmental organisations, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society.

2014 has been a busy year for WAN as we continue to develop our resources for the animal protection community and ramp up our advocacy with the UN and OIE. As the holiday season is rapidly approaching and 2014 coming to a close, we know that animal advocates worldwide are well-aware that there is still much work to be done. Therefore, we are happy to present WAN’s Twelve Wishes for Animals in 2015!

On September 21, 2014, the historic People's Climate March brought some 400,000 people to the streets (with numerous marches in solidarity around the world) and WAN is proud to have been among them. Marchers aimed to show the United Nations that climate matters and to encourage the organization to take strong action on climate change at the 2014 Climate Summit, attended by heads of state.