Prescriptions for a Healthy and Green Recovery from COVID-19
Lessons from COVID-19:
global crisis:
- COVID-19 has been the most significant global crisis in decades, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives and threatening to trigger the worst economic recession since the 1930s. This pandemic has not only cost lives but has also jeopardized livelihoods, health, and sustainable development, leading to widespread unemployment and income loss.
safeguard societies:
- To safeguard societies and expedite recovery, returning to pre-pandemic practices is not an option. The increasing frequency of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, SARS, and Ebola, which have crossed from wildlife to humans, underscores this point. COVID-19 has likely followed the same path. Once human-to-human transmission began, existing national and international surveillance systems were insufficient to halt the spread. Moreover, the absence of universal health coverage left billions of people, even in affluent nations, without access to affordable medical care. Socioeconomic disparities, often exacerbated by gender and minority status, have amplified the impact of the pandemic, leading to disproportionate death rates and economic losses.
Neglecting environmental protection:
- Neglecting environmental protection, emergency preparedness, health systems, and social safety nets to save money has proven to be a false economy. The costs are now being paid many times over. The world cannot afford repeated crises on the scale of COVID-19, whether they arise from future pandemics or the ongoing threats of environmental degradation and climate change. Returning to “normal” is not enough.
Despite the adversity:
- Despite the adversity, the pandemic has revealed the best aspects of our societies—solidarity among neighbors, the bravery of health workers, and international cooperation in providing relief and researching treatments and vaccines. The necessary lockdowns, though disruptive, have offered glimpses of a brighter future. In many places, pollution levels have dropped, revealing clean air, blue skies, clear waters, and safe spaces for walking and cycling. The rapid adoption of digital technology has transformed how we work and connect, reducing commuting times, enabling flexible study and work options, and allowing for remote medical consultations, ultimately leading to more time with family.
Global opinion:
- Global opinion polls indicate a strong desire to protect the environment and preserve the positive changes that have emerged during the crisis. As national governments commit trillions of dollars to revive economic activity, the allocation of these investments and the policy decisions guiding recovery will shape our lives, work, and consumption for years to come. These decisions will have a profound impact on environmental degradation, pollution, and the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming and the climate crisis.
Future Predictions:
- The choices made in the coming months will either entrench harmful economic development patterns that will cause escalating damage to the ecological systems that sustain human health and livelihoods, or, if made wisely, they can promote a healthier, fairer, and greener world.
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Prescriptions for a Healthy, Green Recovery From COVID-19
Protect and Preserve the Source of Human Health Nature:
- Economies are built on the foundation of healthy societies, which in turn depend on a thriving natural environment—the source of clean air, water, and food. Human activities, such as deforestation, intensive agriculture, and unsafe wildlife management, undermine these essential services and increase the risk of infectious diseases, over 60% of which originate from animals, primarily wildlife. Post-COVID-19 recovery plans must address these root causes, not just focus on early disease detection and control. Reducing our environmental impact is crucial to minimizing future risks.
Invest in Essential Services: Water, Sanitation, and Clean Energy:
- Billions of people worldwide lack access to basic services needed to protect their health, whether from COVID-19 or other risks. Handwashing facilities are vital for preventing disease transmission but are absent in 40% of households. Antimicrobial-resistant pathogens are prevalent in water and waste, necessitating sound management to prevent their return to humans. Healthcare facilities must be equipped with water and sanitation services, reliable energy, and occupational protection for health workers. Investment in healthier environments, environmental regulation, and climate-resilient health systems is essential for future disaster prevention and offers significant societal returns.
Ensure a Swift Transition to Clean Energy:
- Over seven million people die annually from air pollution, accounting for one in eight deaths. More than 90% of the global population breathes outdoor air that exceeds WHO air quality guidelines, with two-thirds of this pollution stemming from fossil fuel combustion, which also drives climate change. Renewable energy sources are becoming cheaper, more reliable, and provide safer, higher-paying jobs. Decisions made today about energy infrastructure will have long-term consequences. Prioritizing renewable energy will lead to cleaner environments and healthier populations. Countries like Italy, Spain, South Korea, and New Zealand have integrated green development into their COVID-19 recovery strategies. A global shift to clean energy would meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping warming below 2°C while improving air quality and delivering health benefits that far exceed the costs.
Promote Healthy, Sustainable Food Systems:
- Diseases linked to poor nutrition, whether from lack of access to food or unhealthy diets, are the leading cause of global ill health and increase vulnerability to other risks. Conditions like obesity and diabetes are significant risk factors for severe illness and death from COVID-19. Agriculture, particularly land clearing for livestock, contributes around a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, and land use change is the primary environmental driver of new disease outbreaks. A rapid transition to healthy, sustainable diets is necessary. Meeting WHO dietary guidelines could save millions of lives, reduce disease risks, and significantly lower global greenhouse gas emissions.
Build Healthy, Livable Cities:
- Over half of the world’s population lives in cities, which account for more than 60% of both economic activity and greenhouse gas emissions. Cities with high population densities and traffic congestion can benefit from more efficient public transport, walking, and cycling instead of relying on private cars. This shift would reduce air pollution, road traffic injuries, and the over three million annual deaths from physical inactivity. Cities like Milan, Paris, and London have responded to the COVID-19 crisis by pedestrianizing streets and expanding cycle lanes, facilitating “physically distant” transport during the crisis and improving economic activity and quality of life afterward.
Stop Using Taxpayer Money to Fund Pollution:
- The economic damage from COVID-19 and the necessary control measures is substantial and will strain government finances. Financial reform is essential for recovery, and a logical starting point is ending fossil fuel subsidies. Globally, around $400 billion of taxpayer money is spent annually on subsidizing fossil fuels, which drive climate change and cause air pollution. Including the health and environmental damage they cause, the real value of these subsidies exceeds $5 trillion per year—more than all governments combined spend on healthcare and about 2,000 times WHO’s budget. Pricing polluting fuels in line with their true cost could halve outdoor air pollution deaths, cut greenhouse gas emissions by over a quarter, and generate revenue equivalent to 4% of global GDP. We must stop paying the pollution bill with both our pockets and our health.
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Actionable Steps from the WHO Manifesto: A Global Movement for Health and the Environment In COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis:
- The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that people will support even difficult policies if they are transparently, evidence-based, and inclusive, with a clear focus on protecting health, families, and livelihoods, rather than serving special interests. This approach must be reflected in policymaking. Finance ministries in most countries will lead the design of COVID-19 economic recovery packages. However, given the interconnectedness of the environment, health, and economy, health leaders, such as Chief Medical Officers, should be directly involved in the design process, report on the public health implications, and endorse these plans.
Fundamentals Of COVID-19:
- Fundamentally, protecting lives, livelihoods, and the environment requires public support. There is widespread backing for policies that prioritize wellbeing over GDP and for governments to address climate change and environmental destruction with the same urgency as the fight against COVID-19. The millions of young people advocating for action on climate and biodiversity, clean air, and a livable planet underscore this demand.
Health community:
- The health community is increasingly aligned with this goal. Health workers, the most trusted professionals globally, have earned even greater respect during the COVID-19 crisis due to their skill, dedication, bravery, and compassion. Health professionals worldwide are strong advocates for environmental protection, recognizing its critical role in safeguarding public health. They are poised to champion the green, healthy, and prosperous societies of the future, as evidenced by a recent open letter to G20 leaders, where health professionals called for a healthy recovery from COVID-19.