Climate change worsens animal welfare directly through heat stress and indirectly through feed scarcity; simultaneously, reducing animal agriculture is a major climate mitigation strategy.
The relationship between animal welfare and climate change runs in both directions. Climate change creates welfare challenges — increasing heat stress intensity and frequency, driving more extreme weather events that destroy farms and strand animals, and increasing feed crop volatility. Simultaneously, reducing animal agriculture is one of the most powerful climate mitigation strategies available. The welfare-climate nexus creates aligned incentives: reducing high-emission animal agriculture (beef, dairy) reduces both welfare harm and climate impact. For animals that remain in production systems, welfare-focused management — shade, cooling, climate-adapted breeds — will become increasingly important as temperatures rise. Climate-aware animal welfare advocacy recognizes and communicates these connections.