Humans as hosts, vectors and agents of environmental change

COVID-19 has demonstrated that the coordinated actions of individuals and decision makers can make a difference to the outcome of a grave threat to society. This review paper presents a meta-analysis of the literature demonstrating how land use change, environmental degradation and climate change increase the risk of emerging infectious diseases, which can seriously impact human health and society. This paper provides evidence of how a focus on economic growth without sustainable production and consumption processes has led to higher risk of future pandemics. While many previous studies have pointed at these risks, we propose that recent experiences with COVID-19 present the potential to turn society toward more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable ways of production, consumption and landscape management.