The interconnectedness of the world’s multiple crises is also increasingly apparent. Epidemiologists and conservationists have warned that outbreaks of coronavirus-like diseases are more likely in the future as a result of deforestation, global heating and humankind’s treatment of nature.
“The emergence of the pandemic is not an accident, as there have been repeated warnings for years that we were exerting too much pressure on the natural world by our destructive practices. Habitat loss, intensive agriculture and the over-exploitation of wildlife are key drivers of the emergence of novel infectious diseases like Covid,” said Carole Mitchell, of WWF.
The secretary general of the UN, António Guterres, went further. In an impassioned state of the planet address this month, he declared making peace with nature the defining task of the 21st century. “Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal,” he said. “Nature always strikes back – and it is already doing so with growing force and fury”
Work on a truce will have a better chance of getting under way next year with a new vaccine, a new president in the White House, a newfound respect for science and a new awareness of how rapidly change can come. It remains to be seen whether that leads to transformative improvement of the Earth system or a resumption of tinkering around the edges.
Source: The Guardian, 29.12.2020