About this Research Topic

Background

In March 2022 the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) adopted a resolution calling for an analysis of the nexus between animal welfare, the environment, and sustainable development. This Research Topic aims to shed light on empirical and theoretical evidence and insights from around the world about this nexus.
In the past year, we also saw a resurgence of the concept of One Health which is now defined under the Quadripartite statement issued by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, former OIE), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as “an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems.” That explicitly recognizes the linkages between the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment and aims to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems. To mainstream the One Health concept into government policies, business practices, and academic studies, we need to start thinking of ways to positively correlate humans’, animals’, and the environment's needs.Submissions should focus on how animal welfare measures may present opportunities to implement environmental, health and sustainable development goals.
For instance, submissions may address how animal welfare measures converge with efforts to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean conservation, food security, antimicrobial resistance and/or economic growth or justice.
Within this context, this Research Topic welcomes contributions from academics, practitioners, and policymakers with a legal, socio-economic, political, and/or scientific background. Areas of research to be covered include, but are not limited to, the connection between animal welfare and efforts related to the One Health concept such as discussion of pandemic prevention, preparedness and responses or holistic designs for public health systems; economic incentives to sustainable development; and legal analysis within or across regulatory frameworks for the protection of humans, animals, and the environment from a constitutional, administrative, criminal, or international approach.
Taking holistic approaches to the world’s big challenges requires identifying the links between those challenges. In turn, this effort requires an understanding of the conceptual and causative relationships between the concerns. In particular, academic work needs to bring to light evidence of the shared drivers and solutions, and to bring together evidence in a holistic understanding about the nexus between animal welfare, the environment and sustainable development. This in turn faces a challenge of overcoming the effect of specialization and institutional silos, to foster the exchange of ideas and information. Links need to be explored, ideas and approaches to be “translated”, and data need to be shared and reviewed. The development and evaluation of holistic concepts, frameworks, and approaches is essential.

This Research Topic aims to provide a place to publish high quality research exploring these links, as an open access resource for those working in any discipline whose research can shed lights into the links between animal welfare, the environment and sustainable development. We aim to create a multidisciplinary collection in which authors can present data, analyze concepts, and foster exchange beyond academic practice and policy silos. Research may be within any field including natural sciences, health sciences, philosophy, psychology, human geography, law, and politics. Such work may be conducted from the perspective of one discipline, practice or agency, and the connections identified subsequently, or from a multi- or interdisciplinary perspective.

We will aim to answer the following questions:
- What are the links between Animal Welfare measures and environmental protection efforts?
- What are the links between Animal Welfare measures and sustainable development efforts?
- What are the links between Animal Welfare measures and One Health policies?

Suggested topics include:
- Opportunities for animal welfare and climate change measures to converge with one another
- Studies applying concepts or methodologies used to identify or advance positive interrelation between animal welfare and other societal values
- Legal or sociopolitical analysis on existing or potential frameworks or approaches to enhance the linkage of animal welfare and other environmental and sustainability field of law
- Empirical evidence from interventions at a local or institutional level that involve a correlation between animal welfare, environmental protection, or sustainability.

Keywords: animal welfare, animal protection, environmental protection, sustainable development, one health, one welfare, nexus, UNEP

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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