Animal Welfare and Climate Change: Preparing for an Increasingly Hostile World

Climate change is the most pervasive long-term threat to animal welfare globally, affecting billions of wild, farmed, and companion animals through extreme heat, altered food availability, habitat loss, and increased disease pressure.

Key Facts

Global average temperatures have risen approximately 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with further warming of 1.5-4 degrees projected by 2100 depending on emissions trajectories
Coral bleaching events, driven by ocean temperature increases, have killed 50% of the Great Barrier Reef's coral in the past decade, devastating marine animal habitat
Phenological mismatches — where animal breeding seasons no longer align with peak food availability due to climate-driven timing shifts — are causing reproductive failures across bird and insect species
Heat stress in livestock is increasing in frequency and severity, with annual farm losses from heat stress in the US estimated at USD 1.7-2.4 billion
Arctic sea ice loss is reducing hunting habitat for polar bears, leading to increased starvation and reduced cub survival rates
Wild bee ranges are shifting poleward and to higher altitudes as temperatures rise, leaving some species with nowhere to go at their range limits
Climate-related disasters including floods, wildfires, and droughts are causing mass animal mortality events of increasing frequency and scale

Welfare Considerations

Climate change causes animal suffering through mechanisms that are diffuse, slow, and difficult to attribute to any single event — making it the most important and underappreciated welfare crisis of our time. Heat stress, starvation, habitat loss, and disease are all increasing in frequency and severity across virtually every animal population on earth. The welfare case for aggressive climate action is enormous and direct: every degree of warming that is prevented represents a reduction in the suffering of billions of animals across their lifetimes. Climate advocacy is animal welfare advocacy on the largest possible scale.

What You Can Do

Support aggressive climate policy through political engagement, voting, and advocacy as the most impactful welfare action available
Reduce your personal carbon footprint, particularly through diet changes that reduce livestock-related emissions
Donate to organisations working at the intersection of climate and animal welfare including those focused on wildlife adaptation
Support farmers in adapting to climate change through shade provision, breed selection, and water security improvements
Engage with climate science and welfare organisations to amplify the animal welfare case for climate action
Reduce meat and dairy consumption, which accounts for an estimated 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions
Support renewable energy transition as the primary means of limiting the severity of future climate-driven animal suffering