Protecting Animals & Humans in Disasters in a Globalised World
As a planet with resources, technology, and science available, we are almost always caught unprepared when disaster strikes, something which has become a yearly occurrence. That needs to change, and an effective international intervention that protects humans and animals is required.
With over 69% of biodiversity loss reported between 1968-2018, followed by over 25 water-related disasters in the US alone post-2018 and, among other things, ongoing disasters in Syria/Türkiye, floods in Pakistan and Nigeria, wildfires in Hawaii and Canada, and a massive drought in Kenya, our current approach towards protecting animals and humans in disasters needs to change.
On the legal end, we need an international animal protection instrument that may act as an adaptation measure to advocate for global animal protection during disasters, alongside human protections. What that measure looks like can be informed by a panel of experts working on human and animal protections in disasters across the world.