Degradation and disease: Ecologically unequal exchanges cultivate emerging pandemics

Abstract

An estimated 75 percent of new infectious diseases are zoonotic in origin, directly resulting from human and animal interactions (CDC, 2017). New diseases like COVID-19 most often originate from biodiversity hotspots such as tropical rainforests, and forest loss represents one of the most significant forms of environmental degradation facilitating new human and animal interactions. A political-economy approach illuminates how trade inequalities lead to the exploitation of the environment and people in poor nations, creating conditions under which pandemics like COVID-19 appear. Cross-national patterns in deforestation and forest use illuminate how consumers in the Global North are keenly tied to the emergence of zoonotic diseases.