What many thought would be an isolated incidence of a novel Coronavirus in China has took the world by force. The pandemic has wreaked havoc across the entire globe within the past few months, with extremely significant losses on many levels.
Public health and climate change are really inextricably linked as they do have some key things in common and in magnitude. There are, to a certain degree, parallels that can be drawn between the current pandemic and some of the contemporary crises our world is facing, most notably climate change.
Going even further, many experts believe that global heating and other environmental disturbances could facilitate the development of more novel viruses such as COVID-19. According to Adefris Worku, a forest expert, this is somewhat true.
The Nexus
Nature has a carrying capacity and its own red line, he said, and we have seriously challenged this capacity in the past century. Many of humans’ action have gone past this red line, or come close to this line, with serious consequences, including impacting human infectious diseases.
As people move into territories where there dangerous viruses and bacteria reside more than any time before due to the fact that deforestation and urbanization is bringing wild animals that can transmit disease in closer contact to human settlements, “we are giving them what they need to infect us: opportunity.” Human intervention in the environment is raising the risk of pandemics as rising temperatures ignite animal migrations and other changes.
Furthermore, Adefris notes that the frequency of global pandemic outbreak is increasing due to climate change. Before, outbreaks of this magnitude used to happen in 50 to 60 years, but now they are occurred in every 20 or 10 years and even in lesser times.
As Earth gets warmer through raising temperature, it can shake loose aggressive and dangerous viruses and bacteria that are laying dormant, and it pus humans in danger.
Unintended Effects
As to him, the global battle against Coronavirus has brought an unintended positive spillover effect in the fight against climate change.
It can be simply deduced that global pandemic can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as there are less cars on the streets, cities are silent, factories are closed and skies are quiet. “We are already hearing
reports of an immense reduction in the amount of pollution across the globe, but the real question is it a short-term changes, or a sign of long-term trend. That should be properly analyzed.”
As to Asfaw Mariame, who works as a project manager in World Visions, while the impact has been positive from the changed behaviors, it might only be a short-term change in attitude. I am afraid that once the problem subsides, things will go back to the way it used to be, it may in fact aggravate the problem.”
He, on the other hand, highlights the adverse impacts on the environment the fight against COVID-19 may bring. Discarded single-use face masks, gloves and bottles of sanitizer used to stop the spread of Coronavirus could end up on the streets, and can be causing significant harm to the environment.
Close to home, he says that the program where we are giving food and other amenities to the poor and the needy in this trying times, which for the most part use plastic bags to deliver them, can have adverse impact on the environment as it might mean lots of single-use plastic bags in the streets. “We should look for creative solutions to fight this, as it is very detrimental to the environment.”
“The environment is very important, as we live with it and it is important that we protect it. We need to conserve and handle
it with better.”
Lessons from the Pandemic
Climate change and COVID-19 are two very different challenges, but they do have some key things in common. Both are global – they do not respect national boundaries. And as the world has become more globalized, rapid dispersion of many diseases is one of the inevitable characteristics, which puts us all under the same threat.
“A disease from China can reach the US in a day, or to Japan in half day. What we can learn or take as a lesson from this is that we have to be conscious about this fact now more than ever.” As the worldwide interconnectedness of goods, services, capital, people, and ideas increased, so has the risks.
People are now seeing how they are interconnected, working together to slow the spread of the lethal virus through their individual actions. Within this experience, there is a potential lesson to address other pressing societal challenges, including climate change.
Secondly, the ongoing pandemic illustrates how for a developing and poor country like Ethiopia, focusing on the environment and climate is essential to protect the public from health security threats.
According to Adeferis, continuing business-as-usual when it comes to the environment can have a detrimental effect, especially for
a developing country like Ethiopia.
“We have seen the wealthy developed world struggling to contain the pandemic and manage the situation, and it would be hugely devastating for Ethiopia and other developing African nations.
“So, with this in mind, we should strengthen our natural resource management capacity. As a poor nation, it is even more paramount to us to work hard in natural conservation and environmental works and in managing our natural resources better.”
The green project the Prime Minister initiated can help in this regard. When you manage the landscape and make it green, it can help fight disease. Compare a green place city, to a polluted city, the difference is obvious.
Also, Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy is a good document, which has gained global attraction and the support of many countries, and it is fundamental that the momentum keeps continuing and does not slow down.
While Ethiopia, like the rest of the world, is plunged in the clasps of this globe-throttling pandemic, it is important to take lessons from it and adopt certain proactive measures. As Asfaw said in his conclusion, green efforts initiatives should be intensified while the campaign should be maintained, whilst taking all the necessary precautions that is laid out by the Ministry of Health and the experts.
The Ethiopian Herald May 6/2020
BY STAFF REPORTER
