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What is the link between COVID-19 and the ecological and climate emergencies?

March 25, 2020 por Guy Edwards - Andrea Garcia Salinas - Graham Watkins 1 Comment


The images of dolphins swimming close to the docks in the Sardinian port of Cagliari due to reduced ferry traffic went viral as people enjoyed watching nature return to areas normally busy with human activity. Elsewhere, unusually large numbers of birds are returning to beaches in the Peruvian capital, Lima. While these images suggest a positive link between nature and the COVID-19 pandemic, the reality is far more sinister.

Infectious diseases primarily come from wildlife and are increasing

Disease is an environmental issue. The WHO has shown that the environment is responsible for about a quarter of the world’s deaths. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that three-quarters of new or emerging diseases that infect humans such as Ebola, dengue, zika, and yellow fever originate from wildlife.

There are various ways in which the disruption of ecosystems can exacerbate infectious diseases. For example, we are increasingly encroaching upon tropical forests, which are home to countless species of animals and within them unknown and potentially new viruses. When we disrupt and stress these ecosystems and species, we run the risk of unleashing viruses from their natural hosts, which can jump to humans.

For example, HIV possibly crossed into humans from chimpanzees in the 1920s when bush-meat hunters in Africa killed and eat them. In Southeast Asia, the Nipah virus emerged from bats due to the intensification of pig farming. In the Amazon, another study showed an increase in deforestation by around 4 percent increased the incidence of malaria by nearly 50 percent as mosquitoes, which transmit the disease, thrive in recently deforested areas.

These diseases can have appalling consequences. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds it is already causing tragic loss of live and could cost the global economy trillions of dollars.

The connection between wildlife, disease and people is not new but emerging diseases have quadrupled over the last 50 years largely due to habitat fragmentation, land use and climate change. The disruption of forests driven by logging, mining, roads, agricultural expansion, rapid urbanization, and population growth brings people into closer contact with animal species for the first time. Diseases are likely to emerge in both urban and natural environments given the increased proximity between people, wildlife, livestock and pets. Pollution can also increase the susceptibility to viral and bacterial infections.

Viruses and other pathogens are also likely to move from animals to humans in informal markets, which provide fresh “bush meat” to people. The “wet market” (one that sells fresh produce and meat) in Wuhan is thought to be the starting point of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The climate crisis has also changed and accelerated the transmission patterns of infectious diseases such as malaria. The WHO says that global temperature increases of 2-3ºC would increase the number of people at risk of malaria by around 3- 5%. Climate change is also undermining social and environmental determinants of health, including people’s access to safe drinking-water especially the poorest and most vulnerable communities.

Protecting biodiversity and the climate is about protecting our own health too

Latin America and the Caribbean hold 40% of the world’s biodiversity. This natural capital provides us with vital goods and services including the fresh water we drink. Payments for ecosystem services can promote reforestation, rekindle economic activity and improve forest management. Nature-based solutions also play a critical role in confronting the climate crisis through capturing carbon and providing barriers to climate-related natural hazards.

However, we are currently not doing enough to protect natural capital. Despite the numerous benefits for people and the economy, the region still loses the most tree cover every year globally due to the expansion of the agricultural frontier. Decisions continue to be taken with little consideration of the consequences for biodiversity.

Protecting nature and ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources could help prevent the next pandemic. The right mix of protecting nature, sustainable use of natural resources and educating local communities about the dangers of zoonotic diseases could play a significant role in sustainable development with important co-benefits for people, biodiversity and the climate.

There are also opportunities to catalyze on the services of natural capital in the region. Nature-based solutions and biodiversity are important for successful drug development for new treatments. An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 plant species are harvested for traditional or modern medicine, while around 50% of modern drugs have been developed from natural products that are threatened by unsustainable harvesting and biodiversity loss.

Bioeconomy programs can support the research and development of these drugs, while simultaneously incentivizing the protection of biodiversity. The IDB’s Natural Capital Lab is supporting mechanisms to invest in bioeconomy entrepreneurs, while also ensuring that local indigenous populations, who manage and own these resources, are compensated for the use of local genetic material.

Reducing deforestation and degradation can also have important socioeconomic benefits. The IDB’s Rural Sustentável project in Brazil has directly benefited over 18,000 farmers and avoided the deforestation of 8,550 hectares. Addressing climate-related risks and reducing land degradation via long-term decarbonization strategies and nature-based solutions could secure people’s “right to health”, as stated in the Paris Agreement.

The fact that so many enjoyed videos depicting wildlife (either truly or falsely) returning to human-dominated areas illustrates how people want to believe in the power of nature to recover. Yet our destruction and disruption of nature is increasing the likelihood of more pandemics. If we do not confront the climate crisis, protect biodiversity, and use natural resources sustainably, it is us that will struggle to recover with often tragic consequences.

 

Read our new related reports here:

Nature-based Solutions: Scaling Private Sector Uptake for Climate Resilient Infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean

Getting to Net-Zero Emissions: Lessons from Latin America and the. Caribbean

Check out our Sustainability Report 2019

 

Photo Copyright: Sol Robayo – Flickr

 

Follow us on Twitter @BIDCambioClima


Filed Under: Climate change

Guy Edwards

Guy Edwards is a senior consultant in the Climate Change Division at the Inter-American Development Bank. Previously, he was a research fellow at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and co-director of the Climate and Development Laboratory at Brown University. He has a Master’s Degree in Latin American Area Studies from the University of London. He is the co-author of the book, A Fragmented Continent: Latin America and Global Climate Change Policies (MIT Press 2015). His work has been published by El Espectador, Climate Policy, Brookings Institution, E3G, The New York Times, Washington Post, Project Syndicate, Chatham House, Real Instituto Elcano, El Universal, El Comercio, Americas Quarterly, La Tercera, and The Guardian.

Andrea Garcia Salinas

Andrea es consultora en la División de Cambio Climático y Sostenibilidad del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Cuenta con siete años de experiencia como especialista en comunicación estratégica y creadora de contenido multimedia sobre cambio climático, desarrollo internacional y migraciones. Ha liderado campañas digitales y proyectos de incidencia con Climate Tracker, una red de periodismo climático en 150 países. Previamente, colaboró con asociaciones ambientales e iniciativas de conservación en la Amazonía peruana, realizó la cobertura de conferencias de la CMNUCC, y trabajó junto al PNUD Perú durante el proceso de la COP20. Andrea es Magíster en Desarrollo Internacional con mención en Ambiente y Migraciones por la Paris School of International Affairs - Sciences Po, donde colaboró con la asociación Sciences Po Refugee Help; y es Bachiller en Comunicación para el Desarrollo por la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

Graham Watkins

Graham Watkins es Jefe de la División de Cambio Climático y Sostenibilidad del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo y lidera los esfuerzos del Banco para apoyar las políticas y planificación climática en los gobiernos de América Latina y el Caribe (ALC), aumentar la disponibilidad de financiamiento para impulsar la transformación climática, integrar el clima en las operaciones bancarias y promover conocimiento sobre infraestructura sostenible, riesgo climático y descarbonización. Graham tiene treinta años de experiencia en ALC liderando iniciativas de biodiversidad, infraestructura sostenible y cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe y ha publicado más de 60 artículos, incluyendo dos libros sobre Galápagos y Rupununi en Guyana. Anteriormente fue Director Ejecutivo de la Fundación Charles Darwin en Galápagos y Director General del Centro Iwokrama en Guyana. Graham tiene un doctorado de la Universidad de Pensilvania y una maestría de la Universidad de Oxford.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarwat Hassan says

    September 20, 2020 at 7:54 am

    Great work! This is very true that most of the diseases spread because of environmental issues,so in order to prevent from next pandemic we have to be careful to protect the natural capital.

    Reply

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