Climate change is creating new and intensifying existing welfare challenges for farm animals globally, requiring proactive adaptation strategies to prevent worsening welfare outcomes.
Climate change is a welfare multiplier for farm animals - existing welfare challenges become more acute as heat, drought, flooding and disease pressure increase. Animals adapted to temperate conditions increasingly face heat stress; parasites that were seasonal become year-round; extreme weather events interrupt feeding and veterinary care. Welfare adaptation requires building resilience into farm systems: heat management infrastructure, drought-resistant fodder crops, emergency response planning, parasite monitoring and adjusted treatment protocols. The welfare case for climate action - reducing the scale of change - is as strong as the conservation and human welfare cases. The most impactful welfare intervention for farm animals globally is aggressive climate change mitigation.