Emerging from the emergency – One Planet, One Humanity, One Health

It is time to harness our fears, build hope and drive action to build resilient societies on the longer term.

The world has been plunged into an extraordinary crisis. We share a deep concern for the human cost Covid19 is inflicting and express a profound sense of solidarity with the most vulnerable communities. We fully support the emergency measures needed to save lives and protect the economy. 

This pandemic is teaching us how much we depend on each other for our health systems, food systems and supply chains. We are all on this planet together. And the planet is in the midst of a deeper and longer-term crisis rooted in a number of interconnected global challenges. Humanity has crossed planetary boundaries.  International cooperation is the best option to resolve future existential threats. Like Covid19, climate change, biodiversity loss, and financial collapse do not observe national borders. These threats must be managed through systemic and collective action. Countries are stronger together.

How leaders decide to stimulate the economy and allocate capital in response to the crisis will either amplify these threats or mitigate them. The risk is making nearsighted decisions that increase emissions and continue to degrade nature. It is time to invest in nature, phase out fossil fuels, move to a circular economy and accelerate the transition to resilient low-carbon economies.

We call on leaders to have the courage, wisdom and foresight to seize the opportunity to make their economic recovery plans transformative for people and nature.  In so doing, they will secure a path to net zero emissions by 2050 to meet the Paris Agreement, transform our food systems and rebuild our relationship with nature. 

That is why it is so important that climate and biodiversity stay at the top of the agenda, and that leaders leverage every opportunity to keep up momentum and make progress at the United Nations nature, climate and biodiversity summits later this year. 

This is the moment to rise to the challenge to emerge from this emergency with a global economic reset.  Ensuring the health and prosperity of people and the planet is possible if we make bold decisions today so that future generations can survive and thrive in a better world. 

Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Minister of Environment, Costa Rica; Elise Buckle, President and Director of Climate & Sustainability; Sandrine Dixson-Declève, President of Club of Rome; A Global Call from the Planetary Emergency Partnership signed by 1,000 leaders and scientists from around the world.

See the article published in the Financial Times on the 27th of March 2020: https://www.ft.com/content/09d934ac-6f59-11ea-9bca-bf503995cd6f