Box 1.2: A collaborative approach to water management in the Pacific

Many naturebased solutions to improve urban environments are effective strategies to address both the immediate challenges of COVID-19 and the long-term threats posed by climate change profound impacts on how zoonotic diseases originate and proliferate. For example, a study conducted in the Peruvian Amazon demonstrated that the rate at which the local malaria mosquito bit humans “was proportional to the area of land use modification and inversely proportional to the area of remaining forest.”22 In fact, samples taken in sites that had been deforested and developed in association with road construction demonstrated that mosquitoes had a biting rate over 278 times higher than in forested areas.23

While infrastructure is critical for socioeconomic development, then, it needs to be planned with minimal disturbance to natural habitats and ecosystems. Protecting natural conservation zones, compact urban development and condensing the acreage of areas of extraction and cultivation, as well as reducing air, water and soil pollution, could help reduce the likelihood of contagion in the future. UNEP identified the “unsustainable utilization of natural resources accelerated by urbanization, land use change and extractive industries” as one of the seven human-mediated drivers of zoonotic disease transmission.24 In addition to limiting habitat destruction and fragmentation, there is a need for health stakeholders to recognize and respond to environmental dimensions within health practices.25 This should include a better understanding of the complexity of human, wildlife and domestic animal interactions, as well as an emphasis on the design, planning and conservation of natural and built systems that facilitate healthy interactions and sustainable land use.

The management of water resources is also extremely pertinent at the regional scale in its relation to climate change, human and environmental health. In the face of increasing climate instability, natural disasters will continue to grow in scale and unpredictability, wreaking havoc on already weak urban utilities in many parts of the world. While the links between health and urban basic services is discussed in more detail in section 1.2, the effects of climate change on human health vis-à-vis water supply, management and treatment should also be both examined and addressed from a territorial perspective. Water supply, which is often piped into cities from rural locations, can be disrupted by natural disasters. The increasing frequency of droughts also threatens food and water security, compounding problems posed by the pandemic. Alternatively, in regions with seasonal flooding or monsoons, unprecedented precipitation and extreme temperatures due to climate change coupled with rapid urbanization can overload inadequate drainage and sewage systems, catalyzing the spread of waterborne diseases and infections. Due to natural drainage patterns, analysis at the watershed scale is critical for designing effective storm management systems. The management of water resources beyond municipal boundaries – including how the provision of basic services compete with other sectors and how unplanned growth can destroy natural water systems and habitats – will require cities, regions and small nation-states to work collaboratively.

Box 1.2: A collaborative approach to water management in the Pacific

In the Pacific, access to drinking water is a challenge that has led some states, including the Federal States of Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands, to come together to develop a collaborative, subregional solution to address fragmented water supply and sanitation (WSS). The programme was launched in 2011 to address sanitation issues, ensure safe water access and mitigate infectious outbreaks in response to climate change. It has been pursued both at the sub-regional and country scale, for example through “national water summits” where participants could “discuss WSS needs, benchmark the state of WSS management, and identify policy gaps”, serving as “a first step toward developing national water policies in each country.” The World Bank’s review of the project reports that the sub-regional and country-specific program approach has been successful in its combination of local knowledge with technical support, training and guidance from Pacific regional agencies to foster integration and collaboration between different levels of government and across sectors such as water, planning and health.26

Modern public recreation space in downtown Seoul, South Korea © Shutterstock

To mitigate the emergence and spread of future infectious diseases and enhance long-term health and resilience, emphasis in land use and environmental planning should be put on preserving and restoring blue-green networks27 and landscape corridors across regions. In addition to helping buffer interactions between humans and wild and domestic animals, blue-green networks have also been shown to improve climate adaptation, health, wellbeing and biodiversity.28 While many benefits of investing in blue-green networks are yet to be accounted for, “there is evidence that larger, resilient ecosystems with abundant biodiversity increase ecosystem functioning and hence the provision of services.”29

During pre-pandemic as well as lockdown and recovery periods, local ecosystem services, food production and open space helped maintain communities’ physical and mental health. An increased use of green areas as main recreational areas during lockdowns was observed, with one study estimating that “outdoor recreational activity increased by 291 per cent during lockdown relative to a three year average for the same days.”30 According to another study conducted online, based on 5,218 responses from nine countries, “maintaining contact with nature (blue-green spaces) during COVID-19 lockdown was found to reduce the likelihood of reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety.”31 More broadly, the contribution of nature to health and wellbeing in cities was clear long before the current pandemic: trees in urban areas, for example, by removing pollutants, cooling temperatures and capturing carbon, are estimated to provided long-term benefits “more than twice their planting and maintenance costs.”32 As Figure 1.3 shows, many nature-based solutions to improve urban environments are effective strategies to address both the immediate challenges of COVID-19 and the long-term threats posed by climate change.

Investments in blue-green systems, ecosystem services and “low-carbon physical capital”33

Figure 1.3: Nature-based solutions as a response to pressures from COVID-19 and climate change

Source: UN-Habitat, 2020

can support livelihoods, curb GHG emissions, store carbon and ultimately help communities transition to a more sustainable future. A letter, signed by 180 representatives including ministers from 10 European countries, 79 EU lawmakers and chief executives of major private firms, stated that: “After the crisis, the time will come to rebuild.... The transition to a climate-neutral economy, the protection of biodiversity and the transformation of agri-food systems have the potential to rapidly deliver jobs, growth... and to contribute to building more resilient societies.”34 Reconsidering sustainable financing models to grant cities, fiscal resilience is further discussed in Chapter 3.