Investments that protect and restore nature can deliver good economic returns and employment benefits. National leaders are increasingly promising a green industrial revolution to drive their economies' post-Covid recovery. They are right in believing we cannot go back to our bad old ways. But expensive investments in technologies such as offshore wind turbines and carbon capture and storage risk overlooking our greatest ally in building a healthier, wealthier, more resilient economy: nature itself.

Nature underpins our well-being on many levels. We depend on it not just for food and much of our fuel, but also for clean air and water, and the complex regulation of our climate. A recent World Economic Forum report estimates that more than half of the world’s GDP depends on it and its services.

As the coronavirus has taught us, healthier ecosystems also mean healthier humans. If we make a serious effort to protect and restore wildlife habitats, we will be lowering the risk of harmful pathogens such as Covid-19 jumping species from animals to humans. Nature also helps us fight climate change and protects us from its worst effects. Marine and terrestrial ecosystems sequester 60 per cent of human CO2 emissions, according to UN assessments. Polar ice caps reflect sunlight and keep the Earth habitable (which is why their melting is cause for alarm). Forests and marshlands mitigate the impact of floods.

Covid-19 should not have come as a surprise. The world was warned that it was a pressing risk arising from the loss of biodiversity and climate change. And other threats, most notably our climate emergency, have not gone away during the pandemic. We need to build our societies' resilience to emergencies of all kinds. Our current planning and preparation for viruses, for rising seas and other effects of climate change, are not enough.

The clear link between human health and that of our planet has convinced many governments to back a “green” recovery. This is welcome, but more attention should be paid to “nature-based solutions” that harness the power of nature to both fight and adapt to climate change.

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