Eight highlights (and lowlights) about our relationship with animals from 2024

As we draw the curtains on 2024, it's a fitting moment to reflect on our journey together through this column. This year has been one of profound challenges and remarkable strides for animal welfare, environmental sustainability, and ethical food and farming.

Landmark victory for animal welfare

In a historic victory for animal welfare, Britain has finally banned live animal exports, ending a cruel practice that has persisted for more than 50 years. This monumental decision, which became law in May this year, was the culmination of years of relentless public outcries.

In decades past, millions of sheep, lambs and calves endured horrendously long journeys to other countries for slaughter or fattening. This victory is testament to what we can achieve when we stand together.

Moved to tears

It was a milestone that I was able to share personally with the European Union President, Ursula von der Leyen, encouraging similar action in Europe. It came at a time when the debate in Brussels had been reignited by distressing scenes of heavily pregnant cows suffering in sweltering trucks at the Bulgarian-Turkish border.

Those images prompted 64-year-old Austrian veterinarian Bernhard Url, who has led the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for more than a decade, to tell Politico: “The way we treat animals is a mirror of our societal values. When I see these pictures or videos, I cannot eat meat for the next six months.

“It brings tears to my eyes when I see how animals can be treated, specifically in transport. It is not OK.”

Annually, 44 million European farmed animals endure needlessly long journeys, some lasting weeks at a time. Proposals for reform have been published by the European Commission, but these are worryingly weak. Time now for the EU to get serious and stop long distance transport.

Championing animal welfare

Beyond live exports, the plight of animals in factory farming has remained a pressing issue. Imagine rows upon rows of cramped cages, where animals barely have room to move, let alone exhibit natural behaviours. This is an everyday reality, sadly, for many animals.

Great then to see the Scottish Government considering a ban on keeping egg-laying hens in cages. This reflects societal demand to move to more ethical production systems. Recent polling shows that 88 per cent of citizens regard cages in farming as cruel, with more than three-quarters of people wanting them banned.

Unexpected consensus

In Europe, an extraordinary coming together of farmers, campaigners, food industry figures and experts saw the European Commission receive a consensus recommendation to phase out cages for all animals farmed for food.

The report from the much-vaunted Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture also called for farmers to be supported through the transition by reforming the subsidy system so that it rewards those who provide better animal welfare.

Climate change and the Olympics

While progress in animal welfare reflects growing ethical consciousness, the challenges posed by climate change remind us of the broader interconnectedness of our actions – how the choices we make for animals and the environment shape the future of life on Earth.

Environmentally, it was a year where high-profile sportspeople spoke out about the threat posed by climate change. Rising temperatures are reducing the number of places where the Winter Olympics can be held, while making the summer games dangerously hot for athletes.

Lord Seb Coe went so far as to say, “with global temperatures continuing to rise, climate change should increasingly be viewed as an existential threat to sport”. It was a powerful call to arms, leading us to remember that animal agriculture worldwide produces more greenhouse gases than the direct emissions of all cars, planes and trains globally.

The Olympics also courted controversy with news that foie gras had been served to VIP guests. Produced from the fattened livers of force-fed ducks and geese, its inclusion on menus sparked outrage, clashing with values of compassion and sustainability.

Saving our seas

Meanwhile, Danish fishermen posed a new threat to the survival of puffins. They supported a challenge by the European Union of a ban on fishing for sandeels, the staple food of puffins and other wildlife, in our waters, claiming that they had lost half of their fishing grounds because of the restrictions.

Much of the sandeel catch is used to feed factory-farmed animals. This practice leads to suffering for animals on both land and at sea.

Opposing octopus farming

Staying with things oceanic, alarm was raised over plans by a Spanish seafood company, Nueva Pescanova Group, to build the first octopus farm in the Canary Islands. It could reportedly produce a million octopuses for food each year.

Confining hundreds of octopuses together in tanks is likely to cause stress and cannibalism in these highly territorial creatures who normally lead solitary lives. Octopus farming could also threaten dolphins and turtles too whilst polluting water and releasing carbon.

Toasting action for good

As the year drew to a close, it was wonderful to celebrate Dragon’s Den star Deborah Meaden for ‘naming and faming’ the high street giants saving 500 million animals a year from misery. It was all part of the Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards, an annual event that helps incentivise companies to take action for a better, kinder world.

As we look to the year ahead, I hope for a new beginning – one where we reconnect with our most basic values: love for one another, for other sentient beings, and for life itself. Let this new day be centred on togetherness, inclusion, and kindness. Through such a resolution, we can strive to make the world a better place for all.

Philip Lymbery is chief executive of Compassion in World Farming, president of Eurogroup for Animals and a UN Food Systems Advisory Board member. His latest book is Sixty Harvests Left: How to Reach a Nature-Friendly Future. He is on X/Twitter @philip_ciwf