U.S. Withdraw from Paris Accord is an Assault on Animals and the Environment

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The Animal Legal Defense Fund is dismayed by the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the global plan to respond to and mitigate climate change. The science is clear—climate change is manmade and represents one of the greatest threats, not just to wildlife, but to all life on earth. Less recognized is that of all human activities that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, animal agriculture is the most significant. Research from the Worldwatch Institute concludes that 51% of all greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are associated with animal agriculture. We must make significant changes to our food system if we are to adequately address the threat of climate change, and it is abundantly clear that this is a global problem, not one that recognizes national borders.

“It’s our mission to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. In combatting the horrors of factory farming, we’re fighting to protect all animals, human and non-human, from the worrisome future of climate change,” says Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Stephen Wells. “A strong, worldwide approach to climate change is necessary, and pulling the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord is a giant step backward for our nation and the planet.”