Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

Reproduced with permission from here by IPBES Expert Guest Article by Professors Josef Settele, Sandra Díaz and Eduardo Brondizio [1]   and Dr. Peter Daszak [2]   on 27 April 2020 There is a single species that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic - us. As with the climate and biodiversity crises, recent pandemics are a direct consequence of human activity – particularly our global financial and economic systems, based on a limited paradigm that prizes economic growth at any cost. We have a small window of opportunity, in overcoming the challenges of the current crisis, to avoid sowing the seeds of future ones.    Diseases like COVID-19 are caused by microorganisms that infect our bodies – with more than 70% of all emerging diseases affecting people having originated in wildlife and domesticated animals. Pandemics, however, are caused by activities that bring increasing numbers of people into direct contact and often conflict with the animals that...

Guest blog by Katerva:   The mission of Katerva is to find, evaluate and accelerate disruptive sustainable innovations from around the world. We’re looking for ideas that leap efficiency, lifestyle, and create action that is a generation ahead of current thinking.  In our six-part series we talk about shifts in mindset and behaviour that are required if we are serious about moving towards sustainability. Our latest one was about ‘Giving more importance to the feminine side’, before that the topics were ‘Thinking into the future while acting now’, ‘Letting go off the illusion of control control’, and ‘Understanding connectedness and thinking in systems’.  What is the shift required? The essence of this mindset shift is captures in the quote of John F Kennedy from his presidential inauguration in 1961 when he said, “Ask not what your country ca...

Guest blog by Daniyal Bilal who is a student at the University of St. Andrews studying Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science. He is a passionate Artificial Intelligence Enthusiast, applying Mathematics and AI for socio-economic issues. Originally published here. The world is passing through an unprecedented challenge. Eruption of COVID-19 from China in almost no time has escalated into a global health emergency. Further creating havoc by disrupting every fabric of societies and economies around the world unsparingly. Besides health toll, social breakdowns, an unprecedented economic crisis and looming political interruptions in many parts of the world are already on the horizon. This global pandemic has susceptibly exposed deficiencies and underlying gaps within global systems, institutions and supply chains. After-shocks of COVID-19 are expected to prevail over a long period of time with inevitable social, economic and health challenges globally.     Imp...