Nature and COVID-19: The pandemic, the environment, and the way ahead

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought profound social, political, economic, and environmental challenges to the world. The virus may have emerged from wildlife reservoirs linked to environmental disruption, was transmitted to humans via the wildlife trade, and its spread was facilitated by economic globalization. The pandemic arrived at a time when wildfires, high temperatures, floods, and storms amplified human suffering. These challenges call for a powerful response to COVID-19 that addresses social and economic development, climate change, and biodiversity together, offering an opportunity to bring transformational change to the structure and functioning of the global economy. This biodefense can include a ''One Health'' approach in all relevant sectors; a greener approach to agriculture that minimizes greenhouse gas emissions and leads to healthier diets; sustainable forms of energy; more effective international environmental agreements; post-COVID development that is equitable and sustainable; and nature-compatible international trade. Restoring and enhancing protected areas as part of devoting 50% of the planet's land to environmentally sound management that conserves biodiversity would also support adaptation to climate change and limit human contact with zoonotic pathogens. The essential links between human health and wellbeing, biodiversity, and climate change could inspire a new generation of innovators to provide green solutions to enable humans to live in a healthy balance with nature leading to a long-term resilient future. Keywords Biodefense Á Biodiversity Á Climate change Á Health Á Wildlife trade Á Zoonotic diseases

COVID-19 and sustainable development

“…Farm animals are raised in unhealthy and inhumane conditions. These processes have increased dangerous human-animal interactions (Cross et al, 2018;Johnson et al, 2020), and raised the risks of zoonotic disease transmission (McNeeley, 2020) -75% of recent infectious diseases are caused by mutations jumping from animals to humans (UNEP and ILRI, 2020). The environmental bubble continues to expand due to climate change (driven by anthropogenic carbon emissions); air, land and water resource degradation; and transgression of natural planetary boundaries (IPCC, 2001;Munasinghe, 2011;Steffen et al, 2015).…”

The relative importance of COVID‐19 pandemic impacts on biodiversity conservation globally

“…The pandemic led to reduced capacity to patrol and enforce protected areas and lower numbers of visitors to witness illegal activities. This, combined with a loss of rural livelihoods and increased poverty, fuelled by movements of workers from urban to rural areas (McNamara et al 2020), may have increased hunting, much of it illegal, threatening some species (Hockings et al 2020;Lindsey et al 2020;McNeely 2021;Usui et al 2021). Reduced human presence may have contributed to an increase in black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) deaths (Maron 2020); in the Comoro Islands 28 endangered green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) were killed (Marshall 2020); and in India illegal wildlife hunting more than doubled during lockdown (Badola 2020).…”

COVID-19 and environmental concerns: A rapid review

“…Pollution has arisen as a key concern across the globe during Covid-19, be it linking pollution with a rise in fatality rate [ [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] ] or discussing the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on environmental pollution is most often discussed concern in the research articles [ [22] , [23] , [24] ]. Further, the role of PM 2.5 concentration, emissions and temperature on ozone layer and framing that outbreak of coronavirus and rise in mortality can be driven by impact of environmental factors is also a widely studied topic among the articles assessed for this study [ [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] ].

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