Jonathan Lovvorn (Yale Law School), “Canaries in the Coal Mine: Animals, the Climate Crisis, and the Future of Public Interest Law” (Law, Ethics & Animal Program)

Event description: 

Join Law, Ethics & Animal Program Faculty Co-Director Jonathan Lovvorn as he discusses the relationship between climate change, humans, and animals. Global protests and a flurry of scientific reports have highlighted the existential threat climate change poses to both people and animals.  But how do these dire reports – like the predicted loss of one million species – translate into on the ground suffering of animals?  And what can climate impacts on animals teach us about our own climate fate?  This talk will explore how climate change is disrupting traditional wildlife and other animal protection efforts; highlight the unique role farm animals play as both a cause and victims of climate change; and propose concrete steps to confront this rapidly emerging global humane crisis. Lovvorn’s talk aims to develop a deeper understanding of the impacts of climate change on animals; the intersection of animal welfare, environmentalism, food policy, and other social justice issues; and how the climate crisis is transforming the practice of public interest law.
 
In addition to serving as a Faculty Co-Director of Yale’s Law, Ethics, & Animals Program, Jonathan Lovvorn is Chief Counsel for Animal Protection Litigation for the Humane Society of the United States, and a Lecturer in Law, Clinical Lecturer in Law, and Senior Research Scholar. In the Spring, Lovvorn and Professor Doug Kysar will launch a new Climate, Animal, Food, and Environmental Law and Policy Lab to develop innovative legal and policy strategies to address the externalized costs of industrial animal agriculture – a top contributor to climate change, animal suffering, human exploitation, and environmental degradation.