With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the issue of environmental degradation and its impact on people’s lives is becoming increasingly topical. “We must make peace with nature” is the call the United Nations Environment Assembly made at its fifth session. The value of natural systems and environmental health for people has been on the global agenda for decades. This time, however, a stronger emphasis was placed on the issue because of the COVID-19 outbreak and all the repercussions of this pandemic on people’s lives and the economy. How should our economic model evolve so that it truly contributes to making peace with nature? There is a possible answer in the article below.
People are part of the environment and it goes without saying that human actions affect the environment and the latter affects people. This fact has long been established and is reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which, among other things, envision that life on land and in the marine environment is protected. One living proof of this connection is the outbreak of COVID-19. Thus, researchers suggest that outbreaks of animal-borne diseases are on the rise and COVID-19 is just the tip of the iceberg as from ‘335 diseases that emerged between 1960 and 2004, at least 60% came from animals.’
What exactly have we done?
Human activities have profoundly altered the environment and ecosystems. The continuous degradation of the environment and the activities of humans have created favorable conditions for the virus to spread:
‘We have cleared forests and other natural areas to create spaces for urban areas and settlements, agriculture, and industries. In doing so, we have reduced overall space for wildlife and degraded natural buffers between humans and animals.’ (UNEP, 2020)
It is, therefore, crucial to take lessons from the past and the current situation to prevent such events happening in the future. While the United Nations Programme for the Environment (UNEP) has always supported and endorsed these vital interlinkages, it is only now, with its recent report and the UN Environment Assembly, that the call for urgent action to resolve the planet’s emergencies is even stronger. We need to make peace with nature and learn to live within its limits. This is essential and makes all the difference to the prospects of human existence on this planet and although
‘COVID-19 does not provide a ‘silver lining’ for the environment, it provides the impetus to revisit our relationship with nature and build a better world.’
How do we build better?
Making peace with nature, which humanity is a part of, is a matter of our vision for development. One of the key messages of the report is:
‘System-wide transformation can achieve well-being for all within the Earth’s capacity to support life, provide resources and absorb waste. Transformation involves a fundamental change in the technological, economic and social organization of society, including worldviews, norms, values, and governance.’
This being so, one of possible solutions is to change the way we see economic development. According to researchers, regenerative economics represents a valuable alternative to the current economic model. The regenerative model measures development far beyond conventional GDP and is based on a set of principles of systemic, socio-economic health which “continuously channels resources into self-feeding, self-renewing, self-sustaining internal processes”. Inherently, these processes allow development pathways that avoid the degradation of nature allowing, at the same time, nature and humanity to thrive in equilibrium.
By comparing economics with the way natural systems work, the authors of the study emphasize mutually beneficial relationships as being the pillars of any development. While such an approach can transform society and people’s interaction with one another, it also transforms the way people interact with nature. Researchers conclude that, within the logic of regenerative economics, we as a collaborative-learning species constantly innovate, and today’s most crucial innovation might ‘involve learning to live and flourish within the limits’, i.e., within the limits of our planet.
