Newswise — New York University has launched the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection, a research unit to inform policy related to these linked societal and scientific concerns.
“The nexus of animal agriculture, climate change, and conservation represents one of the most pressing and least understood threats to a sustainable future and will be a main focal point of the Center’s activities,” explains NYU’s Dale Jamieson, the Center’s founding director and professor of environmental studies and philosophy.
Center for Environmental and Animal Protection (CEAP) researchers note that the merging of these areas marks a reunion of sorts.
“As climate change has become the dominant environmental issue of our time and the animal protection movement has become more focused on animals used for food, these movements are reuniting,” adds Jamieson. “This moment calls for the creation of a formal institution that focuses on integrating environmental and animal protection.”
Environmental and animal protection have shared origins, but much of their connection was lost in the late 20th century: the environmental protection movement focused on species conservation while the animal protection movement focused on the welfare of domestic animals.
CEAP, which will conduct, support, and distribute research, will have three primary features:
- A focus on scholarship and policy recommendations that may be used by policymakers and advocacy groups;
- An emphasis on the integration of environmental and animal protection issues; and
- A fostering of collaboration between scholars and the private sector on a global scale
Its work will include initiating research projects, convening workshops, producing policy briefs, and providing seed money for large projects, working closely with NYU’s Department of Environmental Studies and its graduate program in Animal Studies.
CEAP researchers come from a broad range of fields and disciplines—and are already addressing the climate impacts of animal agriculture, animal well-being, trade in endangered species, and the environmental and animal impacts of aquaculture.
For more information, please e-mail [email protected].
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