COVID-19 and Planetary Health: How a Pandemic Could Pave the Way for a Green Recovery

This policy brief argues that the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the critical link between human health and environmental degradation, advocating for a 'planetary health' approach to green recovery. It calls for the integration of health and environmental policies, financing, and data metrics to prevent future zoonotic outbreaks and address systemic inequalities.

• Environmental degradation and economic decisions significantly impact global mortality, with nearly 25% of all global deaths linked to economic decisions affecting the environment. Specifically, poor air quality causes 7 million deaths annually, and poor water quality causes 3.5 million deaths.
• The 'planetary health' framework emphasizes that human-induced changes to Earth's systems directly impact human well-being. The document notes that 60% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonoses, with over 75% of those originating from wildlife, often driven by deforestation, wildlife trafficking, and agricultural expansion.
• Current global food systems are inefficient and detrimental to health, contributing to a combined burden of malnutrition and obesity. The COVID-19 pandemic further disrupted these systems, resulting in an estimated 80–130 million additional food insecure people.
• There is a significant gap in the integration of health and climate finance. Only 0.5% of multilateral climate finance is earmarked for health projects, and only 10% of nationally determined contributions funded by the Green Climate Fund include health-related activities.
• Preventative environmental actions are far more cost-effective than managing pandemics. While the economic and mortality costs of COVID-19 are estimated at over USD 8 trillion, preventative measures such as disease monitoring and regulating the wild meat trade are estimated to cost between USD 22-31 billion annually.
• To achieve a green recovery, the document recommends breaking down institutional silos by fostering collaboration between environment and health ministries, integrating health metrics into biodiversity action plans, and incorporating environmental issues into medical curricula.

APA

de Paula, N., & Willetts, E. (2021). COVID-19 and Planetary Health: How a Pandemic Could Pave the Way for a Green Recovery. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-03/still-one-earth-health.pdf

Chicago

de Paula, Nicole, and Elizabeth Willetts. COVID-19 and Planetary Health: How a Pandemic Could Pave the Way for a Green Recovery. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-03/still-one-earth-health.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=de Paula |first1=Nicole |last2=Willetts |first2=Elizabeth |title=COVID-19 and Planetary Health: How a Pandemic Could Pave the Way for a Green Recovery |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=March 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-03/still-one-earth-health.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{depaula2021covid19, author = {de Paula, Nicole and Willetts, Elizabeth}, title = {{COVID-19 and Planetary Health: How a Pandemic Could Pave the Way for a Green Recovery}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-03/still-one-earth-health.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }