2020’s environmental theme is “biodiversity” and even though we’re going through a pandemic, the world’s focus on the preservation of nature should not be lost. 75% of land surface has been destroyed or damaged due to deforestation and the unsustainable expansion of agriculture, which caused the destruction of around 85% of wetlands. According to The European Commission, nearly half the global GDP (gross domestic product) depends on nature (around 36 trillion euros) while food and beverage industries and agriculture result in 6.4 trillion euros per year.
The pandemic caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) has induced governments and business leaders to implement new strategies in order to fix their economies. There have been various leaders across the globe that have been looking forward to transitioning into a climate resilient future.
The European Commission is considering using 18 billion euros annually over the next ten years to plant around three billion trees, limit fertilizers by 20%, rebuild 25,000 kilometers of rivers and strengthen the agricultural lands under organic farming management by 25%.
There have been over 360 important companies/organizations that have launched Business for Nature that are supposed to mitigate climate change, bring to a stop the decline of biodiversity and advertise sustainable growth.
The University of Oxford surveyed 231 central bank officials and other economic experts from both rich and developing countries on the environment issue and concluded that after the pandemic, “stimulus money allocated to green policy initiatives would materially help the global community get closer to a net-zero emissions target, while bringing the best overall return on investment.”
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Cartoons by Lia Magalhaes