Animals with Regard to Climate Changes - International and European Law Aspects

Abstract

The article consists of three parts. Firstly, it introduces the connection between animal and climate change. On the one hand, the impact of agricultural emissions (livestock emissions) on climate change has been introduced. On the other hand, it has been presented that the climate change has a negative impact not only for the humankind, but also for the biodiversity (animals) which have an economic and socio-cultural significance. Th second part provides an analysis of relevant international legal frameworks (UN Climate Change regime) that stipulate specifically in relation to livestock emissions globally and existing legal and policy frameworks in the EU that address livestock emissions, namely the Effort Sharing Decision and the Common Agricultural Policy. Thirdly, the paper focuses on the problem of biodiversity conservation though the signifiant pace of climate change has been regulated by a number of international conventions. EU-wide ecological network is being created in Europe that ensures the preservation of the natural environment of animals and the ways of their migration, regardless of the existing borders of the countries. Climate change is already having adverse effcts on animal and those effects are likely to prove devastating in the future. Nonetheless, the relevant harms to animals have yet to become a serious part of the analysis of climate change policy.