The Cambridge University economics professor on 'Today'

"Covid is a reflection, a manifestation of our overuse of the earth's system.  We go where we should not go.  We should leave niches alone but we don't.  Movements of people, trade in goods and services have enabled us to enter every ecological niche on earth and that is dangerous."

Growth comes at a devastating cost to the environment.  Nature must be valued alongside profits when measuring economic success.  People are paid more to destroy nature than to protect it.  Amazon, the company is worth more than $1.6 trillion but the Amazon rainforest, the greatest ecosystem on earth is worth virtually nothing until, that is, you cut it down, sell the wood and start farming the land.

Britain's greatest naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, has welcomed today's report by saying "if adopted by governments, it should help avoid the disasters that currently threaten the very future of all life on this planet."

from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55893696

The report says that we need to recognise that humanity is part of and not separate from the natural world.  It recommends ditching GDP for a measure that reflects the true value of nature.  The professor says taxes and subsidies should also go to protecting ecosystems.  "Contemporary economics does not take nature seriously.  My review is arguing that nature needs to be embedded in our economic thinking."  Make no mistake, what he is proposing is a fundamental attempt to transform the way our economies work.  Change won't happen immediately but the hope is that this will begin a serious international discussion about what we really value, as our societies continue to encroach on the natural world as never before.   Justin Rowlatt on 2 Feb 2021

A landmark review has called for transformational change in our economic approach to nature.

The long-awaited review by Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta, of the University of Cambridge, says prosperity has come at a "devastating" cost to the natural world.

The report proposes recognising nature as an asset and reconsidering our measures of economic prosperity.

It is expected to set the agenda on government policy going forward.

At its heart is the idea that sustainable economic growth requires a different measure than Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"Truly sustainable economic growth and development means recognising that our long-term prosperity relies on rebalancing our demand of nature's goods and services with its capacity to supply them," Prof Dasgupta said in a statement.

"It also means accounting fully for the impact of our interactions with nature across all levels of society."

Covid-19 has shown us what can happen when we don't do this, he added. "Nature is our home. Good economics demands we manage it better."

In the 2020 BBC film, 'Extinction: The Facts', Attenborough said,

"Scientists have even linked our destructive relationship with nature to the emergence of Covid-19."

For me, Covid is part of the Climate, Ecological, Nature emergency.  Covid is yet another sign of humans messing things up.  All the time we react and react far too late, rather than preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.  As happened with Covid, we are very complacently in denial until, finally, it comes and hits us in the face.  By then it's all too late, of course!