Animal rights and anti-speciesism

A key argument in the chapter concerns the importance of the animal protection movement (APM) to debates on how to reduce greenhouse emissions and climate change by a reduction in or elimination of meat in our diets. I describe this process in the context of the intensification of animal agriculture and its negative impacts on the climate, the environment, and human and non-human animals. I argue the case for a common cause mass movement of animal and environmental groups along with public health advocates and others as a means of persuading governments – democratic, authoritarian, and in between – to adopt more humane and sustainable practices for the benefit of all. At a time when we are dealing with the existential threat of a global pandemic, we should at least consider what changes are needed to improve our relations with the natural world and to end the worst cases of animal exploitation.

Animal rights · Environmental ethics · Law and economics · Political science · Sociology · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Philosophy · Psychology · Zoonotic diseases and public health