‘We can’t go on very much longer like this’: Jane Goodall says COVID-19 is a warning humanity must change or die

Flickr / Mark Schierbecker

Jane Goodall recently issued a dire warning: if humanity doesn’t change our habits after the coronavirus crisis, we’re “finished.”

Said Goodall in a webinar,

We have brought this on ourselves because of our absolute disrespect for animals and the environment. Our disrespect for wild animals and our disrespect for farmed animals has created this situation where disease can spill over to infect human beings.

The famed anthropologist and primatologist spoke alongside the European Union’s Commissioner for Health and Food Safety and Commissioner for Agriculture. The event was sponsored by the group Compassion in World Farming, which advocates for an end to factory farming. You can view the talk in its entirety here.

What caused coronavirus?

Similar to journalist John Vidal, Goodall believes that the coronavirus pandemic occurred due to environmental exploitation.

Urban expansion and resource extraction have caused humans to increasingly encroach on previously undisturbed land, leading to more interactions with wildlife. Coronavirus likely jumped from animals to humans due to such interactions. Scientists haven’t yet determined what species first spread the disease to people.

Goodall also pointed to factory farming as a cause for concern, as it may aid in the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

A question of class

Jane Goodall also emphasized the importance of ending global poverty in order to prevent future pandemics. People with no other alternatives have to hunt or purchase food wherever they can. One of the main arguments against ending wet markets, like the one in Wuhan linked to an early coronavirus outbreak, is that millions of impoverished people worldwide rely on such markets for food.

Goodall called upon the wealthy to buy ethically-produced food and pressure world leaders to ban harmful farming practices.

The two EU commissioners who spoke with Goodall pledged to continue working to create more environmentally-friendly policies, such as the European Green Deal.

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