Below is a summary
There has been breathtaking innovation, where our behaviours both as individuals and as societies, have changed to fight this dreaded disease - where we have indeed saved millions more lives - and by working together as a team - we will beat it.
We have seen that we can do it - which gives me optimism that we can change our behaviours to fight the 3 main challenges we have as a Species over the next 30 years
HEALTH HUNGER and CLIMATE CHANGE
The effort we put in matters - we will test things - some things we do will succeed and many others will fail - but as optimists - the failures need to be seen as learnings -we will continue to evolve - and for us to advance - we need to look at things like optimists
The virus does not distinguish and spread based on rich or poor - it spreads - and yet only 1pc of worlds production of the vaccine is in Africa - where doses are limited
For the virus to be effective - we all need to be vaccinated - both rich and poor - globally and we need to come together as one to vaccinate the planet - those that have and have not .
Similarly to Climate Change - Climate knows no borders - what happens in one part of the workd - will effect this fragile rock!
The lesson
People only worry about things when it is upon them - even if they see a train wreck approaching - but it has not yet survived
Case in point - in a study of 10k children in 10 countries - people from countries more directly and immediately impacted by climate change tended to be more worried about the future. Ninety-two percent of young people in the Philippines said they felt like the future was frightening, compared to just 50 percent in Australia. https://www.vice.com/en/article/88npnp/fifty-six-percent-of-young-people-think-humanity-is-doomed
The pandemic has taught us an important lesson:
Responding to crises starts years before they happen. Innovation and r and d takes time , diligence, failures and collaboration . We need to support scientists , researchers and organisations who are working on challenges to support our future .
Vaccines that have usually taken 10-15 years to develope have been developed in less than a year - was done as a result of years of global researc, investing and collaboration people in all parts of the workd
We need to work together - towards common goals
And if we want to be better, faster, and more equitable , and leave this rock for our grandchildren a better place than we found it , we need to start laying the foundation.
Now
This is the decisive decade
It is up to us to work together to fight the 3 challenges of HEALTH HUNGER and CLIMATE CHANGE
There are 2 global forums that I am excited to be a part of
- The Climate Action Forum
- The Yarning Circle - the Diversity Equity and Inclusion forum -
where the focus is to not only talk and share ideas - but to turn ideas into action.
Be sure to subscribe to our channel and join our collaboration https://youtube.com/channel/UCFYSvMU_VG7lWJuoj-cb8YQ