by Adalene Minelli and Cleo Verkuijl

As world leaders convene in New York this month for the UN High-Level Political Forum, they will assess progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the banner of “transformative, equitable, innovative and coordinated actions” for a sustainable future. This year’s forum will include in-depth reviews of goals spanning clean water, energy, infrastructure, sustainable cities, and global partnerships.

But there is a critical blind spot in that framework itself that is increasingly difficult to ignore: Animals. 

From expanding cities and infrastructure that drive habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss, to food systems whose welfare failures can contribute to zoonotic disease risks and antimicrobial resistance, animals are deeply embedded in the systems the SDGs seek to transform. Yet animal health and animal welfare remain largely invisible in the global development framework.

This omission is both a moral oversight and a practical one. Increasingly, governments, international organizations, and scientists recognize that human, environmental, and animal well-being are interconnected. The One Health approach, championed by the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the UN Environment Programme, is built on precisely this understanding. Yet the SDGs do not fully reflect it.

A recent report from our organizations, the Stockholm Environment Institute and New York University’s Center for Environmental and Animal Protection, argues that without integrating animal health and welfare, the SDGs remain incomplete. As discussions begin about the future of global development beyond 2030, that gap deserves urgent attention.

The SDGs were designed to be “integrated and indivisible.” Yet they overlook a core pillar of what is now widely understood through the One Health lens: the interdependence of human, animal, and environmental well-being.

This gap matters for three reasons.

First, animal welfare matters in its own right. Scientific evidence continues to grow that animals across a wide range of species are sentient beings capable of experiencing pain, pleasure, and other subjective states. Recent initiatives such as the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness reflect an emerging scientific consensus that consciousness is likely far more widespread across the animal kingdom than previously understood. Yet global development policy has not kept pace with these advances.

Second, animal health and welfare are foundational to sustainable development. Healthy, well-treated animals support resilient livelihoods, safer food systems, healthier ecosystems, and more sustainable communities. When animal welfare is neglected, the consequences ripple outward through increased zoonotic disease risks, antimicrobial resistance, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.

Third, solutions that benefit humans, animals, and the environment simultaneously are not only possible—they are already emerging. Wildlife-friendly infrastructure, humane urban planning, plant-rich food systems, and conservation approaches that account for animal welfare demonstrate how policies can generate benefits across sectors rather than forcing trade-offs between them.

Yet because animals remain largely invisible in the SDG framework, these opportunities are too often overlooked.

Why this matters now

This year’s UN HLPF session comes at a critical juncture. With just a few years left until 2030, it is increasingly clear that many SDG targets will not be met on time. At the same time, discussions are beginning about what comes next: whether to extend, adapt, or replace the current framework.

In addition, the “Pact for the Future,” adopted by world leaders in 2024, invites the High-Level Political Forum this July to explicitly consider how we will advance sustainable development by 2030. Scientists are working now to develop these recommendations. 

That makes this moment uniquely important.

We have an opportunity not only to accelerate progress toward existing goals, but to strengthen the framework itself, so that it better reflects what science and experience now tell us about how sustainable development actually works.

Nowhere is this more visible than in global food systems, though the challenge extends far beyond agriculture to urban development, infrastructure planning, public health, biodiversity conservation, and climate resilience.

Agriculture sits at the heart of multiple, intersecting crises: food insecurity, climate change, biodiversity loss, and public health risks. Industrial animal agriculture, in particular, plays a dual role, providing food and livelihoods, while also driving disease emergence, environmental degradation, and large-scale animal suffering.

As food scarcity and access challenges intensify in many parts of the world, the need for more resilient, equitable, and sustainable food systems has never been clearer. Integrating animal health and welfare into policy is not a distraction from this goal: it is a prerequisite for achieving it.

A practical path forward

The good news is that closing this gap does not require starting from scratch.

Our report identifies three practical pathways for integrating animal health and welfare into the SDGs and beyond.

First, governments can act now within the existing framework. Every SDG, from poverty reduction to urban development, already touches on animals in some way. By explicitly considering animal health and welfare in implementation, policymakers can unlock synergies and avoid harmful trade-offs. For example, cities pursuing SDG 11 can incorporate wildlife-friendly design, habitat connectivity, and humane management practices that support both biodiversity and community resilience.

Second, as discussions around a post-2030 agenda take shape, governments can introduce new targets and indicators that better capture these interconnections. This could include, for example, tracking zoonotic disease risks, reducing harmful agricultural subsidies, or measuring progress toward more sustainable consumption patterns.

Third, and more ambitiously, the international community can consider establishing a dedicated goal on good animal health and welfare: an “SDG 18.” Such a goal would elevate the issue to the same level of visibility as climate action or biodiversity, while reinforcing its cross-cutting importance across the entire development agenda.

These approaches are not mutually exclusive. Together, they offer a flexible roadmap for progress, one that can be adapted to different political and institutional contexts, including through international support.

From omission to opportunity

Some may worry that adding animal health and welfare to an already complex global agenda risks overburdening it.

We see the opposite.

Integrating these considerations strengthens the coherence and effectiveness of the SDGs. It helps address root causes rather than symptoms. It speaks to some of the most urgent challenges humanity has faced this year. And it aligns the framework with advances in science, policy, and public understanding that have emerged since 2015.

In short, it makes the SDGs work better.

As leaders gather in New York this July, they will rightly focus on accelerating progress. But they should also ask a deeper question: what is missing from our current approach, and how can we fix it?

Animals have always been part of the systems the SDGs seek to transform. Recognizing that reality would not complicate the sustainable development agenda. It would make it more coherent, more evidence-based, and ultimately more effective.

Adalene Minelli is a senior fellow at NYU Center for Environmental and Animal Protection; Cleo Verkuijl is a Senior Scientist at the Stockholm Environment Institute. They are two of the lead authors of the recent report Integrating Animal Health and Welfare into the 2030 Agenda and Beyond.