Animal Welfare for Sustainable Development

Themed "Moving towards a green and low-carbon road, deepening industrial reform, keeping up harmonious development," the Sixth World Economic and Environmental Conference, organized by the International Energy Conservation Environmental Protection Association in cooperation with other organizations, was held in Beijing on November 28-29, 2013. [CnDG by Wei Bo]

Themed "Moving towards a green and low-carbon road, deepening industrial reform, keeping up harmonious development," the Sixth World Economic and Environmental Conference, organized by the International Energy Conservation Environmental Protection Association in cooperation with other organizations, was held in Beijing on November 28-29, 2013. The conference invited many representatives from governments, enterprises and embassies across China, as well as international organizations focusing on environmental protection and green development.

With the development of China's modern society, the harmonious coexistence of human, nature and animal has become increasingly important. Animal welfare has become one of the focuses in current society. Instead of providing additional treatment, animal welfare aims to satisfy the basic needs of animals, including freedom from hunger and thirst, pain, injury and disease. Animal welfare in China is still at its beginning stages. People lack the knowledge about animal welfare and its significance.

Therefore, this was the first time that an Animal Welfare Forum was included in the Conference. The forum was co-organized by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and the Animal Welfare Cooperation Committee of the China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation, aiming to have the public, enterprises and governments understand the relationship between animal welfare and the major global challenges that mankind faces. It also emphasized the importance of animal welfare to a sustainable agricultural development.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is a leading global organization dedicated to animal protection. It enjoys General Consultative Status within the UN and Special Consultative Status within the EU. WSPA activities include the professional education on animal welfare, the promotion of the animal protection concept, the promotion of animal-friendly sustainable farms, the "Red Collar" campaign and a number related activities for the protection of wild animals. The aim is to encourage the protection of animals and create a beautiful China where human and animals live in harmony. Adhering to the concept of "In China, for China,"WSPA actively urges local governments, communities, organizations, enterprises and individuals to jointly protect animals.

At the Animal Welfare Forum, experts from both China and abroad were invited to share their ideas on animal welfare, sustainable development, food safety, public health, environmental protection and ecological civilization construction.

Jia Youling, president of the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), thinks that the core of animal welfare is to respect animals; the most urgent thing in China nowadays is to improve people’s understanding of animal welfare. A veterinary is the spokesman for the animals. They ought to master the knowledge and skills of animal welfare first. Jia also revealed that CVMA has struck up cooperation with WSPA in the field of animal welfare education for Chinese veterinaries. In the future, both parties will give out the “China Animal Welfare Award” to help elevate people’s awareness of animal welfare and take Chinese animal welfare to the new level.

Animal welfare is not only closely tied to animals, but also related to food safety, public health, environmental protection, climatic change, poverty elimination and disaster prevention.

Nicola Beynon, the WSPA head of External Affairs in the Asia Pacific said, "Taking farm animals as an example, they account for two thirds of the world's total number of animals. 1 billion of the world's poor depend on farm animals for their livelihoods. Therefore, the welfare of those animals is critical to productivity and economic security, the ability to survive and restore livelihoods after disasters and poverty eradication. This is why WSPA is promoting the inclusion of animal welfare in the Sustainable Development Goals that are being negotiated by governments at the United Nations to guide the international community's development agenda for 2015 to 2030. WSPA, together with other organizations, is also promoting a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare in which governments commit to improving animal welfare laws, policies and practice in their countries; and we are delighted that many countries are signing up."