Environment in the Time of a Pandemic
By Divya Alex
The global pandemic affecting millions should make us rethink the sustainable goals, to account for the emergence of high-risk diseases.
COVID 19 is the new global enemy and the latest in the series of zoonotic diseases transmitted to humans from wild animals. Before this, a host of similar diseases like SARS, MERS, EBOLA and Zika have terrorized the economies around the world which points to the emergence of complex interactions between humans and wild or domestic animals. As we confront the pandemic, rethinking the sustainable goals to account for the emergence of high risks diseases, will be a crucial determinant to emerge with a favourable outcome in this war.
There is growing policy interest to understand the linkages between global environmental change and human health but little attention has been paid to interactions between environmental change and infectious diseases despite the push by the scientific community to recognise and address the same. There is a definite causal link between the geographic origin of the new zoonotic diseases and the disruption of habitats in areas of high biological diversity.
The majority of diseases, close to 70% of highly infectious diseases including the recent pandemic are originating from animals which points to a certain kind of interaction among animals and humans. There is a strong correlation between the emergence of diseases and human population density and wildlife diversity. The anthropogenic changes such as deforestation and expansion of agricultural land (i.e., land-use change), intensification of livestock production, and increased hunting and trading of wildlife have also contributed in a major way.1
A study by DiMarcoa et all gives examples to show a causal link. The emergence of Nipah virus in Malaysia in 1998 was causally linked to the intensification of pig production at the edge of tropical forests where the fruit bat reservoirs live; the origins of SARS and Ebola viruses have been traced back to bats that are hunted (SARS) or inhabit regions under increasing human development (Ebola). Mitigating the underlying drivers of disease emergence will, therefore, require consideration of multiple dimensions of socio-economic development, which include SDGs targeting a diverse range of societal issues. 2
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development launched by the UN aims to address the ongoing concerns of “human pressure leading to unprecedented environmental degradation, climatic change, social inequality, and other negative planet-wide consequences.” This arises from the appropriation of natural resources for economic development and human well-being. The anthropocentric and utilitarian view taken by most national policies around the world has biased centrality towards human beings. Most countries are aggressively pushing for Sustainable Development Goals especially Goal 2 of Zero hunger. Goal 2 aims to increase agricultural productivity to enhance global food security, which will likely lead to the expansion and/or intensification of cropping and livestock production systems both increasing emerging infectious diseases. This has not just led to a dramatic increase in food production but also shifting patterns of consumption and food systems favouring animal products for higher demand for energy and food requirements. The larger imperative of poverty and food security for the rapidly growing population has been one of the driving causes of environmental degradation.
The current lack of focus on these sorts of interactions and looking at sustainable goals in isolation will not just act counterproductive to the sustainable goals efforts but also compromise the health and well-being of people around the world. Knowing the linkages between environmental change and the risk of infectious diseases, actions taken to achieve other sustainable goals will have an impact on the achievement of Goal 3. Therefore, the need of the hour is to manage the environmental change to prevent the outbreak of such pandemics in the future. The sustainable development goals need to be rethought to account for emerging pandemic risks. While there are ample technological solutions advancing at a rapid pace to detect and monitor the risks of the infectious diseases, policies to deal with them are largely reactive than preventive. Environment policies that promote to keep biodiversity hotspots intact and promote sustainable land use planning, reduced deforestation and biodiversity protection, laws and policies to reduce wildlife contact and prevent livestock to be kept in unhygienic and inhuman conditions. Lastly, we need to see what the sustainable development goals are bringing along with the intended goals. The focus of the SDGs now needs to shift to these policy blind spots to ensure that its larger aim is not compromised.
The pandemic, COVID 19 has given us enough food for thought to understand the growing environment complications and preparing us for the next adversity arising from the climate change. Hopefully this will serve as lesson for formulating better environment policies and sustainable socio-economic planning.
References
1. T. Allen et al., Global hotspots and correlates of emerging zoonotic diseases. Nat. Commun. 8, 1124 (2017)
2. K. E. Jones et al., Global trends in emerging infectious diseases. Nature 451, 990–993 (2008).
3. Sustainable development must account for pandemic risk Moreno Di Marcoa,b,1, Michelle L. Bakerc, Peter Daszakd, Paul De Barroe, Evan A. Eskewd, Cecile M. Goddef, Tom D. Harwoodg, Mario Herrerof, Andrew J. Hoskinsh, Erica Johnsond,i, William B. Kareshd,j,k, Catherine Machalabad,j, Javier Navarro Garciaf, Dean Painil, Rebecca Pirzlg, Mark Stafford Smithg, Carlos Zambrana-Torreliod, and Simon Ferrierg
