What about animal rights in sustainability reporting?
In the beginning of November 2022, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) published a catalog of methodologies, indicators, and benchmarks for quantifying and reporting on sustainability issues. This contribution is important and good for achieving our common goals for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
We find it a pity that animal rights / animal welfare / animal treatment / animal health once again did not find a significant contribution in this document.
Unfortunately, the same topic can be found in other relevant frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Animal rights are usually subsumed under the topic of biodiversity, although it poses a major challenge to the sustainable development of our planet.
Animals are part of products and the production of many companies, and companies are also connected to the issue of animal rights in many other areas (e.g. food in canteens or when selecting production sites).
We think it would be important if dealing with animals were given a higher priority in the ESG debate.
Link to the great work of the UNRISD:
"A User Manual for the Sustainable Development Performance Indicators"
Photo: JerzyGorecki / Pixabay