What does nature have to do with COVID-19?
“I think the crisis has served as a useful reminder that health, economic stability and nature are all interconnected, and I think this could lead us to a better understanding of some of the ties that bind us on a global scale. And hopefully that’s a cause for optimism, as governments and business look to respond.” –Steve Bullock, Global Head of Research and Innovation at Trucost
“We’ve been playing with fire. Habitat loss and encroachment have led to us to being uncomfortably close to plants and animals that harbour disease. What we’ve seen with COVID-19 is that something that many people have understood to be impossible, or improbable, has actually happened: nature is having this profound impact on humanity and human livelihoods.” –Salman Hussain, Global Coordinator of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)
“We have seen in a very direct and concrete way how the loss of biodiversity poses a risk to our economies, our way of life, and our health. It impacts the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we eat. And now, as we see, causes pandemics.” -Lynda Mansson, Director General of the MAVA Foundation
How can governments and businesses better value natural and social capital for informed decision making?
“For more informed decision making we really need the right tools and the right datasets so governments and companies and investors can really understand their impacts and dependencies on nature.” –Steve Bullock, Global Head of Research and Innovation at Trucost
“The thing that’s typically measured is called ‘productive capital’. It's what appears in GDP measures. We should also add to that the human, the social and the natural capital.” –Salman Hussain, Global Coordinator of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)
“We’ve always been valuing nature, but we have been putting a zero in the equation... If it is not in your core strategy, if it is not in your national development plan its usually a good sign you haven’t valued it.” -Nozipho Tshabalala, Conversation Strategist, Global moderator & broadcaster
“We don’t want to jump from the COVID-19 frying-pan and into the biodiversity and climate crisis fire... Keeping nature at the centre of the economic recovery discussion is critical if we’re going to have the kind of economic development that we all want to see… There are many barriers and challenges. Yes, we do have a lot of tools, but we don’t have the data collected to feed into these tools, models and so on. There is a basic data gap as well as different technical competencies within countries.” -Nicole Leotaud, Executive Director at CANARI
How can investment in biodiversity and natural capital support long-term economic recovery from the COVID-19 fallout?
“The time is now for really reforming the legal, policy, regulatory, fiscal frameworks to better support the sectors, to provide incentives for greening... How can we support businesses to green practices, to deliver solutions, to innovate, to contribute to the ecosystem restoration that is so desperately needed, with a focus on the SME sector?” -Nicole Leotaud, Executive Director at CANARI
“It’s on investors and financial institutions to managers to develop and integrate these types of investment themes into funds and investment portfolios and products they’re developing… If businesses were to promote video conferencing and reduce air travel by 40%, then the whole aviation sector would be aligned with the climate goals by 2030. Buying locally for just 7% of international goods would put the shipping sector on a climate-aligned pathway by 2030.” –Steve Bullock, Global Head of Research and Innovation at Trucost
“We’re not going to solve our current problems using the same type of short-term thinking that got us here: we need to think longer term, with a systems approach... we need to have a fundamental look at how we think about and achieve economic prosperity. Rewiring our economies and businesses with a better, and more complete, understanding of our relationship to nature is key to building resilient green economies that are fit for the future.” –Lynda Mansson, Director General of the MAVA Foundation
Recording
Speakers
Steven Bullock, Global Head of Research and Innovation at Trucost
Salman Hussain, Global Coordinator of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)
Nicole Leotaud, Executive Director at CANARI
Lynda Mansson, Director General of the MAVA Foundation
Moderated by: Nozipho Tshabalala, Conversation Strategist, Global moderator & broadcaster
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This webinar was organized in the context of the Economics for Nature (E4N) programme, which is focused on ensuring that nature has a voice in economic and planning processes. E4N is funded by the MAVA Foundation and is driven by the Green Economy Coalition (GEC), Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP), Capitals Coalition, and WWF France.