The Australian Academy of Science supports the below statement published recently by the . The IAP is composed of more than 140 learned academies around the world, including the Australian Academy of Science. In this communiqué, the IAP calls on the global community to ‘build back better’ during and after the pandemic, focusing on a green recovery.
Its key message is that only a low-carbon recovery will simultaneously provide for social equity, the environment, and human health.
The Academy has previously joined with other Commonwealth academies .
Read the full statement below.
Science can ensure social equity, health, and economic benefits
July 7, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is imposing devastating health and social costs worldwide. At the same time, the climate emergency demands urgent and resolute action. This is why today, under the umbrella of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), 140 medical, scientific and engineering academies from around the world . Their is that only a low-carbon recovery can generate co-benefits for social equity, the environment, and human health.
“It is clear that health and sustainability should be central to the post-pandemic economic response. Now it is time to make a choice. Either, societies return to the old pathways embedded in high-carbon economies that pose major threats to health and sustainable development. Or seek low-carbon socioeconomic pathways to protect and promote human health and enhance the prospects for an equitable recovery compatible with the commitments in the Paris Climate Agreement,” says .
IAP academy members constitute more than 30,000 leading scientists, engineers and health professionals in over 100 countries. IAP’s analysis ‘‘ draws on previous work by academies to identify challenges and science-based solutions across multiple sectors to effect fundamental recovery transitions worldwide that support the imperative for rapid decarbonization.
“We must rapidly reduce fossil fuel use and other sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and recognise the value of ecosystem services and of the potential for climate change mitigation policy to bring significant human health benefits,” says . “It has been said before, but it is worth repeating: We need to ‘build back better’,” adds Murray.
“International coordination is paramount, and we must focus our attention on the needs of the most vulnerable. Our recovery actions should take into account existing strategic initiatives, in particular the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and other UN Agreements on biodiversity and climate change. But these urgent priorities necessitate strengthening the capacity to support science-informed decision-making at national, regional and global levels,” says .
Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated health inequities, with a disproportionate impact on already vulnerable populations, calling for measures to reduce health inequity not only as this pandemic continues, but also in developing plans for preparedness and responsiveness to future threats.
As a follow-up to this letter, IAP President Volker ter Meulen recently spoke alongside the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and others at , and IAP’s new analysis points out that also the green recovery must be rooted on fair and equitable strategies, leaving no one behind.
The new communiqué, available online at , was signed by the Steering Committee members of the InterAcademy Partnership:
- Volker ter Meulen, IAP President
- Depei Liu, IAP President and Co-chair, IAP Health
- Margaret Hamburg, Co-chair, IAP Health
- Krishan Lal, Co-chair, IAP Science
- Cherry Murray, Co-chair, IAP Science
- Masresha Fetene, Co-chair, IAP Policy
- Richard Catlow, Co-chair, IAP Policy.
