It started with a Facebook post in 2019. Veterinarian Dr Jeannet Kessels sent a rallying cry, asking for other members of her profession to take meaningful action on climate which, despite animals holding no responsibility for the causes of climate change, were feeling the consequences most strongly. After some deliberation about how to go about it, a core group of individuals decided to aim high and establish a professional, staffed climate advocacy organisation. Vets for Climate Action was formed.
Since then, it’s been full steam ahead, developing strategy, securing funding and empowering a growing number of volunteers. We’ve made submissions to government, appeared in the media and inspired the people we work with to take climate action. In 2020, Professor Peter Doherty, the only veterinarian to win a Nobel Prize, offered to become our patron.
Vets for Climate Action is now a DGR-registered charity with a team of six,a growing number of volunteers, leading those who love, care for and work with animals to act urgently on climate change. Because animals matter.