Nature sending us a message with coronavirus pandemic: UNEP chief

As the coronavirus crisis continues to grapple the world, United Nations Environment Programme chief Inger Andersen has said that the nature is sending us a message with the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis.

Andersen said that humanity was putting too much pressure on the natural world and warned that it will have dangerous consequences, adding that not taking care of earth meant not taking care of ourselves.

She also said that though the immediate priority was to protect people from coronavirus and prevent its spread, the long term must be on tackling habitat and biodiversity loss.

“Never before have so many opportunities existed for pathogens to pass from wild and domestic animals to people,” she told UK newspaper Guardian, reasoning that 75% of all emerging infectious diseases come from wildlife.

“Our continued erosion of wild spaces has brought us uncomfortably close to animals and plants that harbour diseases that can jump to humans,” she added.

The UN environmental chief also noted that other impacts, such as the Australian bushfires, broke heat records and Kenya saw the worst locust invasion in 70 years. “At the end of the day, [with] all of these events, nature is sending us a message,” she said.

Experts have also maintained that the coronavirus outbreak was a 'clear warning shot', and today's civilisation is 'playing with fire'. They have opined that it almost always human behaviour that leads to the diseases spilling over in humans.

The experts also noted that in order to prevent future outbreaks, global heating, as well as destruction of the natural world for farming, mining and housing, has to end, as they drive wildlife into contact with people.