CBD COP17: A New Guide Links Animal Welfare to Biodiversity and Human Health
A new guide called "Animals for Biodiversity and Health" was launched on 21 October 2026 at COP17 (the 17th Conference of the Parties) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). COP17 is being held in Yerevan, Armenia, from 19 to 30 October 2026.
The guide helps governments add animal welfare (the physical and mental well-being of animals) into their work under the CBD's Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health, which was adopted at COP16 in Cali, Colombia, in 2024.
It was promoted by the World Federation for Animals, with support from groups such as the Born Free Foundation.
Its main advice: strictly control or ban risky and cruel capture, transport and trade of wild animals; protect urban tree cover and build wildlife corridors; and phase out high-risk confinement systems in farming while saving local, genetically diverse livestock breeds.
The guide links animal welfare to four connected crises: loss of biodiversity, climate change, zoonotic diseases (diseases that jump from animals to humans) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). One projection says AMR could directly cause about 1.91 million deaths a year by 2050.
Examples cited include 30 green corridors in Medellín, Colombia (cooling the city by nearly 2°C), Belgium's 2009 "positive list" of mammals allowed as pets, and One Health frameworks in Bangladesh and Cameroon that include animal welfare.
One Health Approach
One Health is a way of thinking about health that treats the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment as one connected system. It says that we cannot keep people healthy if animals are sick or nature is damaged. So doctors, vets, farm experts and environment experts must work together, not separately. The idea is most often used to fight diseases that pass between animals and humans.
The guide launched at COP17 is built on One Health thinking. It argues that treating animals well, in the wild and on farms, lowers the risk of zoonotic diseases and AMR while also protecting biodiversity. It gives governments practical steps to fold animal welfare into the CBD's Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health.
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (often called the PCA Act) is India's main law that protects animals from unnecessary pain and suffering. It lists acts that count as cruelty, sets punishments, and created the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to advise the government. It covers almost all animals: pets, farm animals, working animals, performing animals and animals used in experiments.
The COP17 guide asks countries to make animal welfare part of their biodiversity and health policies. In India, the PCA Act, 1960 is the main legal tool for animal welfare, covering farm animals, transport and markets. The guide's call to phase out high-risk confinement systems and regulate cruel animal trade links directly to the gaps in this old law and to the long-pending effort to strengthen it.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
The Convention on Biological Diversity is the main world treaty for protecting the variety of life on Earth. It was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and came into force on 29 December 1993. It has three goals: conserve biodiversity, use it sustainably, and share the benefits of genetic resources fairly. Its top decision-making body is the Conference of the Parties (COP), which usually meets every two years. India is a party to the CBD.
The animal welfare guide was launched at the CBD's COP17. It is meant to help countries carry out the CBD's Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health, and so support the Kunming-Montreal targets that the world is currently missing.
- Guide name: "Animals for Biodiversity and Health"; launched 21 October 2026 at CBD COP17
- COP17: Yerevan, Armenia, 19 to 30 October 2026
- Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health: adopted at COP16, Cali, 1 November 2024 (Decision 16/19)
- 30x30 target (Kunming-Montreal GBF, 2022): world is off track
- AMR projection: about 1.91 million direct deaths and about 8.22 million associated deaths a year by 2050
- Medellín, Colombia: 30 green corridors; average urban temperature cut by nearly 2°C
- Belgium: "positive list" of mammals allowed as pets since 2009
- Brazil: IBAMA wildlife centres received over 54,000 wild animals in 2023
- Bangladesh and Cameroon: One Health frameworks that recognise animal welfare
- Quadripartite for One Health: FAO, UNEP, WHO, WOAH
- India: PCA Act, 1960; AWBI set up in 1962 under Section 4