COP27: Healthy animals for a healthy planet

Issues such as rising temperatures, biodiversity loss and climate finance will be high on the agenda at the UN COP27 climate talks, which kicked off in Egypt yesterday. Building on COP26 and the Paris Agreement, the annual gathering is a moment to take steps towards addressing these challenges and to build frameworks and policies for a more resilient future for people and the planet.

This is particularly timely after a recent UN FAO report highlighted the importance of including animal health in nationally determined contributions and climate commitments more broadly.

Climate change affects not just our planet, but people and animals too. That’s why a One Health approach – recognising the interconnectedness of animal health, human health and the environment – must be placed at the centre of discussions.

A sustainable future cannot be achieved without animals, so animal health must be part of the conversation at COP27. From mitigation to adaptation to resilience, healthier animals play a part in delivering all, and it is essential that the animal health sector is integrated into climate change plans for a sustainable future.

According to the UN FAO, improving livestock health and husbandry can reduce emissions by 30%, making the sector vital in achieving SDGs and climate goals such as the Global Methane Pledge announced last year. Building sustainable food and agribusiness sectors are an essential part of the puzzle in meeting the world’s challenges of climate change. Animal health can help us get there.

They can sign up here to receive our newsletter every month

Mitigation, adaptation and resilience are all crucial elements of tackling the climate crisis. And keeping our animals healthy can help us achieve each one.

Here’s how:

1) Mitigation: Better animal health represents a significant opportunity to reduce livestock emissions and meet climate commitments, as the United Nations recently reported. Healthy animals mean lower emissions, and this can be achieved through a number of interventions. The intensity of GHG emissions is directly linked to the efficiency with which producers use natural resources while using better quality and more balanced feed can lower direct emissions. Overall, improved breeding and animal health can help lower livestock-related emissions.

2) Adaptation: Humans are not alone in their climate adaptation struggle – animals across the world are struggling too. However, breakthroughs in livestock genetics and breeding could help to produce animals that cope better with high temperatures, reducing the need for more resources. For example, some European cows have a natural gene mutation that makes them less likely to suffer from heat stress. This gene could be introduced into herds across Africa to help them fare against rising temperatures.

3) Resilience: Livestock represent sentinel species when it comes to the impact of climate change, but they can also hold the key to resilience. With rising temperatures, reduced access to water and resources as well extreme weather events, the climate crisis is placing extreme pressure on the livestock sector. Feed shortages and increased risk of diseases do not just affect animal production, but the livelihoods of those that depend on the sector for food security, income, and much more. Animal health can help boost the resilience of pastoralists for a more sustainable future.

Animals are key to achieving a sustainable future for people and planet. With world leaders gathering at COP27 shortly, the role of animals in mitigation, adaptation and resilience must be placed at the forefront of discussions.

Improving livestock health reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Did you know that in 2019, African swine fever led to 150 million pigs being lost and up to 45 million tonnes of GHGs being wasted?

Learn more about the current state of pet, vet and owner wellbeing – including the impact of the pandemic on ownership – in our latest Pet Health Report.