The 6 Ws of Veterinary Sustainability: A Blueprint to a brighter future for animals, people and the planet.

The world is facing a multitude of complex and pressing challenges. Climate change, biodiversity depletion and public health pandemics are presenting existential threats to human civilization and the natural world. Veterinary professionals are in a unique position to take positive action, as a trusted profession and with wide reaching spheres of influence across food and farming, wildlife, equine and pet health sectors.

Vet Sustain have created the 6Ws of Veterinary Sustainability, centered around the UN SDGs and focused on 6 key elements of sustainability: Waste, Water, Wildlife, Warming, Wellbeing and Welfare.

These 6 Ws provide a framework for veterinary professionals to use as they inevitably face the complex sustainability challenges of the future. Using the 6 Ws as a lens when tackling a veterinary problem allows a systems thinking approach to the task, where the wider impacts and implications of any decision can be considered alongside each of the 6 Ws.

Ed Bailey, Chair of Vet Sustain said:

“Sustainability is often reduced to eye-catching single issues, such as ocean plastics, animal agriculture or the mental health crisis. While all these are important, they should not be viewed in isolation, as this can not only enable polarising debate but also misses the interconnections. The UN recognised the need for a systematic framework with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, building on the proven success of the Millenium Development Goals. Vet Sustain has adapted these to fit the position of vet professionals at the intersection of people, animals, science and the environment. The 6 Ws are a concise and memorable way to approach veterinary sustainability comprehensively - short enough to be a mental checklist, but broad enough to include most aspects of the SDGs. We hope that vet professionals will find the 6 Ws to be a useful framework to help enable sustainable change.”

Vet Sustain intends that the 6 Ws of Veterinary Sustainability will enable veterinary professionals to take a more comprehensive and holistic approach to tackling sustainability challenges that we face within the profession.

Laura Gelder-Robertson, CEO of Vet Sustain said:

"Today’s business environment is increasingly disrupted and volatile. In just a few years, we have navigated a pandemic, unprecedented extreme weather events and complex geo-political conflicts. The challenges that we’re facing are complex, interconnected and systemic. There are no quick, easy fixes. However, these challenges also offer immense opportunities to create new value. Through recognising the ways in which business success is dependent on the health and wellbeing of people, other species and the planet, we can boost resilience, more easily identify opportunities and drive positive progress. Think of the “6 Ws of Veterinary Sustainability” like the lens on a camera, which can zoom in on the micro context / best practice for the animals under our care or out to explore the macro context / bigger picture of the wider species, wildlife and world we impact upon. We look forward to sharing more on this over the coming months and at our 6 Ws Roundtable at BVA Live in June."

Vet Sustain is a community interest company supporting veterinary professionals to drive change towards a more sustainable future. Our vision is for the veterinary profession to be enabled as leading forces for sustainability and our mission is to enable and inspire veterinary professionals to continually improve the health and wellbeing of animals, people and the environment.