Gallagher Quoted on COVID-19 Impacts on Biodiversity
Kevin Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy and Director of the Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was quoted in a New Scientist article on COVID-19, it’s impacts on nature, and how to protect it moving forward.
The article, titled “Covid-19 hit biodiversity across the globe. Here’s how to fix things,” explores how the ongoing pandemic effected efforts to halt behavior that is harmful to biodiversity, resulting in increased deforestation, poverty, and food insecurity. As Gallagher points out, the economic hardship caused by COVID-19 has resulted in a loss of biodiversity, increased harvesting of natural resources, and other environmentally damaging practices as countries are desperate subsistence and a source of income.
Gallagher goes on to say that many countries, especially in Latin America, are spending much of their revenue repaying external debt. He argues that linking debt forgiveness with biodiversity performance would promote a green economic recovery for struggling countries.
An excerpt:
In many cases, covid-19 is intensifying pre-existing systemic pressures. ‘Some countries that have a lot of debt distress are also highly biodiverse and highly climate vulnerable,’ says Gallagher. These include Angola, Cambodia and the Solomon Islands, as well as many in Central and South America. Lots of these countries are already spending anywhere between 30 and 70 per cent of their revenues on servicing external debt, says Gallagher. Natural resources represent one of the few reliable sources of income.
The full article can be read on the New Scientist‘s website.
Kevin Gallagher is a professor of global development policy at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, where he directs the Global Development Policy Center. He is author or co-author of six books, including most recently, The China Triangle: Latin America’s China Boom and the Fate of the Washington Consensus. Read more about Professor Gallagher on his Pardee School faculty profile.