Good Health and Well-being

Destroying Nature Encourages Pandemics

There is thought to be a link between nature and pandemic outbreaks.

Experts from the United Nations, World Health Organisation and World Wildlife Foundation have jointly warned that pandemics such as COVID-19 are the result of the human population continuing to destroy nature.

In the report published by the Guardian, leaders told that the illegal wildlife trade coupled with the destruction of wild, natural spaces through deforestation and pollution was certainly a key factor in the spread of such diseases from animals to humans. They have warned that viruses such are COVID-19 are “are manifestations of our dangerously unbalanced relationship with nature” and are calling for a green recovery plan coming out of the pandemic.

A ‘green recovery’ would see Governments putting nature, climate action and biodiversity at the heart of any plans to lift their countries and economies out of the current COVID-19 crisis, in line with the ‘Race to Zero’ emissions campaign to be achieved by 2050.  The Climate Assembly UK has reported that the majority of the public would adapt and maintain measures enforced during lockdown to help tackle the climate change and suggest than any economic plan to lift the UK out of the pandemic should therefore aim to support the target of net zero emissions.

You can read the original article by Marco Lambertini, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema and Maria Neira published by the Guardian here.

Posted by Claire Edwards 23 June 2020

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