Using Animal Welfare Framing as an Effective Approach to Communicating Climate Change-A Review

Introduction: Climate change and its effects continue to threaten the stability of environments worldwide, impacting nearly every species. Although framing is an established technique in climate communication science, little has been done in communicating the climate change effects from an animal welfare perspective.

Objectives: The primary objective of this article is to present the synthesis of evidence in existing literature on the effects of communicating climate change as an animal welfare issue.

Methods: A systematic approach was taken based on the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) scoping review guidelines and utilizing a hybridized ProPheT-PICOS Model with modifications. Using search strings, scholarly databases within the Web of Science platform were systematically searched for English-language climate change literature that included animal welfare concepts. Articles were imported into Covidence and inclusion and exclusion criteria were then used to select articles for further analysis.

Results: Of an initial 4080 studies, only two papers were identified that used animal welfare framing to discuss climate change based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Conclusion: Further research should attempt to understand and approach framing climate change concerning current understanding by geographic location and culture to close research gaps and mitigate bias in the context of climate change and its effects on animal welfare.