Kate Lappin very aptly reiterated Winston Churchill's famous statement,
"Never waste a good crisis." Undoubtedly, the road ahead of this
crisis will not be easy, but this crisis can prove to be a gateway for change
in our society and allow us to shape our future. Kate also said that a lot of
intervention is needed in the countries that depend on private healthcare to
make it more public friendly. Drug prices in countries that have privatised
their health sector are substantially higher in comparison to countries that
have a public healthcare system. And therefore, private healthcare costs a lot
more on people's pockets than public healthcare.
"A
key issue is whether the world returns to the 'old normal' - which places many
countries on a path that is not compatible with attaining several SDGs, or on a
'new normal' that holds on to the adjusted practices that are good for
sustainable development," said UN's Assistant Secretary-General, Kanni
Wignaraja. The roadmap to achieve that "new normal" is to align our
practices with Development Justice and Green New Deal.
Development Justice and Green New Deal are alternative development models to
achieve a Feminist Fossil Fuel Free Future, - a new gender-just, economic,
political, and social relationship in a world free from climate change. Development
Justice consists of 5 transformative shifts: Redistributive Justice, Economic
Justice, Social and Gender Justice, Accountability to People, and Environmental
Justice.
Kate added that with the rise of privatisation and reductions in government
spending, the idea of public health and welfare of society has gone for a toss.
Due to the advent of neoliberalism, all our essential entities like water,
energy, education, and medical facilities have been converted into commodities.
The private health sector is dependent on the ill health of the people to make
a profit. Governments must fulfil their core duty of public welfare, and for
this, they must control the capacity to decide the industrial setup to ensure
self-reliance. Profiteering from an illness must come to an end, stressed Kate.
An increase in demand for food leads to deterioration of the land and water resources. The impact on the environment is quite severe. So Kate suggested Agro-ecological food systems. Agroecology focuses on the relationship between plants, livestock, humans and the environment. Agroecological activities draw on these experiences, introducing novel approaches that utilise and conserve biodiversity.
A crucial part of sustainable development is food sovereignty. It is characterised as the right of people to safe and culturally acceptable food provided by environment-friendly and sustainable methods and the right to establish their own food and agricultural systems.
While some SDG gains have been eroded, this should not deflate our energy. They should rather spur us to accelerate and deepen our efforts during this decade of action to 'recover better', and build a healthier, safer, equitable and a more prosperous world.
"With the right mix of economic policies and fiscal stimulus, investments in healthcare and social protections, we can move to recovery pathways that do not take us back to the same levels of waste and pollution, inequality and joblessness, but ensure greater economic, environmental and social sustainability". These golden words by Kanni Wignaraja are our key to success and a just future.
Shreya Rawal, Durgesh Nandan Yadav
(authors are students of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Indore, India and part of the internship at CNS (Citizen News Service) currently)
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