World Animal Protection Asks G20 Leaders to End Wildlife Trade

Wildlife trade has become big business and the subsequent exploitation of wild animals puts our health, economies and biodiversity at risk, says World Animal Protection as it launches a global campaign today, targeting G20 leaders to support a permanent wildlife trade ban to protect animals and prevent future zoonotic pandemics.

As the world struggles to contain the spread of COVID-19, there is a need for a coordinated global approach. Each of World Animal Protection’s 14 offices around the world will be petitioning their representative members in the G20, a global forum of the world’s 20 largest economies, to take steps towards implementing a global wildlife ban. It’s widely believed that COVID-19 transferred to humans from wild animals and that 70 percent of all future diseases in people will come from wild animals. A global ban on wildlife trade is, therefore, a critical measure for reducing the chances of future pandemics.

Steve McIvor, CEO at World Animal Protection said, “Multi-billion-dollar businesses have been exploiting wild animals on an industrial global scale and we are now all seeing the true cost of that. This pandemic isn’t just about wild animals being sold for food. It’s much bigger than that, it’s about greed and the commodification of wild animals at every level.”