Biodiversity Loss

If human production and consumption systems that rely on the inhumane treatment of animals are the dominant driver of biodiversity loss, it follows that the integration of animal welfare as an essential policy concern will contribute significantly to the effort to arrest biodiversity loss and work towards the restoration and regeneration of our ecosystems.

The recent global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has determined that “for terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, land-use change has had the largest relative negative impact on nature since 1970, followed by the direct exploitation, in particular overexploitation, of animals, plants and other organisms. Agricultural expansion, particularly to sustain industrial livestock systems, is the most widespread driver of land-use change.” The same report notes that “around 25 percent of animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, many within decades, unless action is taken to reduce the intensity of the drivers of biodiversity loss”.

If human production and consumption systems that rely on the inhumane treatment of animals are the dominant driver of biodiversity loss, it follows that the integration of animal welfare as an essential policy concern will contribute significantly to the effort to arrest biodiversity loss and work towards the restoration and regeneration of our ecosystems.