Open letter to global leaders: a healthy planet for healthy people

The Club of Rome have written an open letter to global leaders, calling for the response to the current global health and financial crises to address the other crises we are facing in concert: the biodiversity and climate crises. The signatories recognise that attempts to stimulate the economy in the recovery from COVID-19 could involve ‘nearsighted decisions that increase emissions and continue to degrade nature in the long term’. This would come back to bite in the form of the manifold negative consequences of climate change and biodiversity collapse, including further infectious diseases.

The pandemic has revealed the true fragility of human society; we must acknowledge this and act accordingly. The response to the pandemic should be seen as a chance for a ‘global economic reset’, with solutions that create low-carbon, nature-rich societies that are resilient and sustainable in the longer term.

Read the letter here, of which Nathalie Seddon, NbSI director, was a signatory.