WBI Studies Repository (WellBeing International)
Not a member yet
6323 research outputs found
Sort by
IPCC - Climate Change 2022 - Full Report
No full texthttps://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/boocov/1030/thumbnail.jp
The Global Food System and Sustainability
Get PDFIn the last few years, several major reports have all called for changes in the world’s food system – usually emphasizing the need to shift to diets that emphasize plant-based nutrition – to ensure a sustainable future for the planet. These reports include:- 2015 WHO report on Biodiversity and Human Health, 2016 report by the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food, 2019 Global Biodiversity report, 2019 Climate Change (Chapter 5) report, 2019 Report by the EAT-Lancet Commission, 2021 Chatham House biodiversity report)
Aquaculture in Africa: Aquatic Animal Welfare, Impact on the Environment and the Sustainability of the Sector
Get PDFThe African aquaculture sector recorded the fastest growth in the world between 2006-2018, averaging 10% or more, and is expected to partially fill the growing fish supply-demand gap up to 2063. In 2018, there were about 1.2 million aquafarmers across the continent, an increase from 920 thousand in 2014. According to the African Development Bank, expansion of aquaculture in Africa is hampered by the overwhelming predominance of tilapia farming, which relies heavily on the production of fingerlings from a limited number of genetically improved strains that are resistant to the many diseases affecting this species, and on the production of feed that is still largely imported . The Bank cited projections that African aquaculture would grow far more dramatically if it rapidly diversified, rather than remaining dominated by tilapia farming. The review also noted that the sector now generates products not only for direct consumption, but also used in food processing, feed, fuels, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and a variety of other industrial products
Decapod sentience: broadening the framework
Get PDFA framework for studying sentience in decapods is of great value, but how high a cost (in suffering) to each individual decapod (or any animal) is warranted for collecting scientific evidence of sentience? The lack of evidence for some of the target article’s proposed criteria surely results from the fact that research is focused mainly on biomedical studies, ecotoxicology, and commercial production, with decapod sentience and welfare seen as only a secondary research topic. I draw attention also to the possibility of a wider framework that includes all felt experiences, from suffering to pleasure
Sentience and the science-policy interface
Get PDFI contrast my picture of the relationship between the science and policy of animal sentience with that of Marian Stamp Dawkins, who thinks “the science of animal sentience and the politics of animal welfare should be kept separate” because they involve irreconcilably different standards of evidence. On my alternative picture, (i) the science of animal sentience, like any other empirical science, delivers evidence but not certainty; (ii) this evidence allows us to make better practical decisions, both within and outside science and (iii) the quality standards we apply to the evidence should be high in all contexts, including the formulation of public policy
Distinguishing epistemic and moral grounds for legal protection
Get PDFThe criteria proposed by Crump et al. are based on various cognitive roles associated with sentience. A subset of them may be sufficient for certain kinds of welfare, but the presence of all of them should be considered as clearly sufficient for substantial kinds of legal protection based on their relation to capacities that we consider essential for moral standing in human beings
Sentience criteria to persuade the reasonable sceptic
Get PDFWhen presented with evidence that Crump et al.’s criteria are satisfied for the animals in some taxon, a sceptic could reasonably continue to suspend judgement about whether those animals are sentient. This is because the criteria refer to abilities which are associated with sentience in humans, but it is not clear that sentience is necessary for these abilities. The criteria could be strengthed by requiring evidence of a contrast in performance between cases in which information is carried by felt and unfelt states
Decapod sentience: Promising framework and evidence
Get PDFStrong points of the target article by Crump et al. are that it offers clear criteria for judging whether decapods are sentient, an effective semi-quantitative grading system for this purpose, and an astute, critical review of the literature. It concludes plausibly that major subgroups of decapods are sentient. A minor problem is that it includes classical, Pavlovian learning as a marker of sentience along with the more valid marker of complex (e.g., operant) learning. Another minor problem is that it does not distinguish results that are negative because of likely absence of sentience from results that are negative because they have not yet been gathered. Future studies should explore how decapods are sentient with so few neurons in their nervous system
Wolves Revisited
Get PDFThere are different approaches to wolves and wolf management in the United States of America (USA), depending on the state. Ted Williams, a longtime writer on fish and wildlife conservation, has recently written about the killing of wolves in the Northern Rockies states. Whether or not you agree with Williams’ criticisms of the state governments and the Federal authorities for their approach to wolves, he brings his usual acerbic pen to the discussion of wolf management. He criticizes Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming for resurrecting “America’s tradition of persecuting wolves.
The UN-iversalization of Animal Welfare Law
Get PDFAdvancing the protection of animal beings is becoming a universal mission in this early twenty-first century. A few years ago, animal welfare was knocking at the door of the United Nations (UN). Today, it is entering this door. Animal lawyers and protectionists are working to support the full inclusion of animal welfare concerns into the agenda of the UN and its organizations, and to create a new UN-iversal regime. The protection of animal beings, long a missing piece of the international law puzzle, seems likely soon to take its place as a UN objective, alongside protection of human beings and the environment.
In this paper, the evolution of animal welfare law from the national level to the UN level is traced (2). The evidence that the subject is of growing interest and concern at the UN is briefly reviewed (3) until showing that animal welfare is becoming a new UN objective (4). Overall, the case is made that animal welfare law is UN-iversalizing