H. E. Dr. Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya, Minister of Environment, Rwanda
H. E. Gustavo Manrique Miranda, Minister of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, Ecuador
H. E. Ms. Steffi Lemke, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection
The health benefits of the natural world are vast. Nature gives us breathable air, drinkable water and productive soils. Nature gives us medicines. Nature improves health for all the species that share this planet if we invest and conserve it. And, of particular relevance today, nature provides a buffer against emerging zoonotic diseases.
COVID-19 caused 6.5 million deaths and could end up costing as much as USD 13.5 trillion. If we continue down the current path, COVID-19 won’t be the last, or possibly even the worst, pandemic. Zoonotic diseases are emerging more frequently, because of how we source and grow our food, trade and consume animals and disrupt our environment.
Make no mistake, nature has given us a wakeup call. Nature keeps delivering wakeup calls through the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.
The Nature 4 Health investments being announced today are a direct and welcome response to this plea from our planet. These investments are smart, because prevention is just a fraction of the total cost incurred when a pandemic breaks out.
Friends, Nature 4 Health, a consortium of the world’s leading environmental and health organizations, directly supports the recent decision taken by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to develop the biodiversity and health strategy for COP16. The consortium is a global initiative to support country-level action to prevent pandemics and related health risks by strengthening the environmental aspects of health. It is a partnership devoted to helping countries apply an integrated, cross-sectoral approach that secures animal, plant and ecosystem benefits for all – the One Health approach.
But this consortium’s success depends entirely upon country partners, which in Phase 1 are Ecuador, Ghana, Mongolia, Rwanda, Vietnam and Zambia. These six countries have critical biodiversity under threat and a high risk of animal-to-human disease transmission. But most importantly, they have a strong commitment to addressing the problem. I welcome them to Nature 4 Health and salute their commitment.
Together, we can deploy the unique skillsets of our consortium partners to reduce pandemic risk. These six countries are where we start to lead the way. But there are dozens of other countries that have expressed their interest to be part of this consortium, so we welcome additional partnerships that can help us to meet what is a big need.
We are a species in peril, living on a planet in peril. But if we act on pandemic risk and on the triple planetary crisis by backing nature – including through valuable initiatives such as Nature 4 Health – we can save lives and reduce the burden on healthcare systems.
Thank you.
