To tackle Covid-19, we must acknowledge the role of nature in human health and resilience
With the world in the grip of Covid-19, celebration of World Environment Day (WED) on June 5 was a virtual happening. Yet, perhaps more than ever before, these tough times call for us to revisit, and reflect on, the role of human action in either further destroying, or protecting our environment.
This year’s WED theme is ‘Investing in biodiversity: Key to sustainable livelihoods.’ An apt reminder that as our economies grapple with the impact of Covid-19 shutdowns, we must place even more emphasis on defending the environment for it to defend us too.
In this article,Ina Fred notes that one of the root causes of the current pandemic is an environmental one. According to wildlife experts cited in the article, when animals are taken out of their natural habitats, and put under stress and in close proximity to other animals, it not only increases the risk of transferring diseases to humans, but it also disrupts their native ecosystems, which harms biodiversity and exacerbates climate change. It follows, therefore, that to effectively address Covid-19, it is critical to pay attention to the nexus with climate change and biodiversity.
Biodiversity and food system
As one of the key indicators of a healthy environment, biodiversity plays an important role in sustaining agriculture and food systems. The benefits of incorporating biodiversity into agriculture include enhancing soil health, protecting wild habitats, recycling nutrients, and reducing soil erosion. These are all forms of ecosystem services that enable us to enjoy bumper harvests, and adapt to climate change and other threats.
With the clearing of more natural environments for conventional food production systems that are primarily based on monoculture, as well as other demands linked to rapid population growth, additional stress is being placed on ecosystems.
All the more reason we should take an opportunity to think through possible ways of using the current global pandemic to build more biodiverse food systems for an inclusive, resilient and food secure future.
At the global level, there has been a quiet momentum building to position nature-based solutions more centrally in development processes. Ahead of WED, the global community commemorated the International Day for Biological Diversity on 22 May, which also marked the conclusion of the 2011–2020 UN Decade on Biodiversity. 2020 is also meant to launch the Post-2020 Global Diversity Framework, originally scheduled to be adopted in Kunming, China, in October. While the final conference has been postponed, discussions are continuing to agree on the proposed 20 action-oriented targets that will provide a roadmap for transforming humanity’s relationship with nature by 2050.
Despite the disruptions it has caused, Covid-19 is also giving us a preview of what “living in harmony with nature” might look like. Once polluted skies are clearing up due to reduced air travel, and industrial activity. In a report released in April, the International Energy Agency concluded that “the most severe plunge in energy demand since the second world war” would trigger multi-decade lows for the world’s consumption of oil, gas and coal while renewable energy continued to grow. While there is need to rebuild economies and livelihoods, the world has a rare chance to plan for a post-Covid future that is more in tune with nature, and hence more resilient to to future outbreaks.
As individuals, we have a responsibility to reflect on our own role in either building or destroying the environment, and also ourselves. The ball is in our hands, the choice is ours.
It is time for nature, let us all be part of the solution to build back better!
Written by Nellie Kanyemba Kapatuka
This article is part of Covid-19 Food/Future, an initiative under TMG ThinkTank for Sustainability’s SEWOH Lab project (https://www.tmg-thinktank.com/sewoh-lab). It aims at providing a unique and direct insight into the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on national and local food systems. Also follow @CovidFoodFuture, our Video Diaries From Nairobi, and @TMG_think on Twitter. Funding for this initiative is provided by BMZ, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
