Humanity will be 'finished' if it fails to drastically change its food systems in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis, the prominent naturalist Jane Goodall has warned. She blamed the emergence of Covid-19 on the over-exploitation of the natural world, including deforestation, species extinction and habitat destruction. The coronavirus is thought to have made the jump from animals to humans late last year, possibly originating in a meat market in Wuhan, China.
Goodall, one of the world’s foremost experts on chimpanzees and a longtime conservation campaigner, spoke alongside two European commissioners at an online event held by Compassion in World Farming on Tuesday. 'We have brought this on ourselves because of our absolute disrespect for animals and the environment,' she said. 'Our disrespect for wild animals and our disrespect for farmed animals has created this situation where disease can spill over to infect human beings.'
She called for an overhaul of food habits, moving away from factory farming and stopping the destruction of natural habitats as a matter of urgency, due to the threat of diseases and climate breakdown. Factory farming is linked to the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, which threaten human health. 'If we do not do things differently, we are finished,' she said. 'We can’t go on very much longer like this.'
Goodall also highlighted the impact of poverty, war, consumerism and diet on the natural world. She urged the wealthy to put pressure on leaders and avoid buying products from companies that use factory farming and exploit nature. 'We have come to a turning point in our relationship with the natural world,' she warned, saying there was only a small window of opportunity to make drastic changes before facing disaster.
Stella Kyriakides, the EU’s commissioner for health and food safety, said the EU was responding through its newly unveiled agriculture and biodiversity strategies and the European Green Deal. Janusz Wojciechowski, commissioner for agriculture, added: 'We will constantly support sustainable farming and breeding practices as an alternative to intensive industrial farming.'
Concern about the links between coronavirus and the exploitation of the natural world is growing. Eighteen conservation groups have joined together in the Campaign to End Wildlife Trading, urging Boris Johnson to call for a global wildlife trade ban when G20 leaders meet this November.
