Faced with drastic challenges ranging from COVID-19 to global warming, it is vital that people do their best to protect the environment, British primatologist Jane Goodall told CNA in a recent interview.
"Every individual matters, and if every individual makes ethical choices every day in what they buy, eat..., it will make a huge difference," said Goodall, laureate of the 2020 Tang Prize in sustainable development.
Speaking ahead of the virtual award ceremony slated for Nov. 20, Goodall said people must make changes to reverse the harm they have done to nature.
The COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, was a tragedy caused by human beings because they do not respect animals, destroy their habitats and crowd some of them into closer contact with people.
"That gives a virus like this COVID-19 an opportunity to jump from an animal to a person," said the 87-year-old, adding that people have to also remember that each animal, whether it is wild or domestic, is a sentient being capable of feeling fear, terror, and pain.
"They are individuals," said Goodall, who is also an advocate for the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which is being held in Glasgow, Scotland.
Facing still other challenges such as climate change and declining biodiversity, people must think again about the unrealistic idea that they can have unlimited economic development in a world with finite natural resources, since in some places people are using up resources faster than nature can replenish them, she said.
This failure to respect the natural world and its consequences has also put the most vulnerable groups, or poor people, at risk because many of them rely on the environment for their livelihood, according to Goodall.
People must make responsible choices because the fate of every living thing on the planet is interrelated, she said.
Goodall said people should follow the universal rule "do unto others, as you would have them do unto you," with the provision that "others" here includes animals and the environment.
The British national, named the winner of the fourth Tang Prize for sustainable development last year, is recognized for her "ground-breaking discovery in primatology that redefines human-animal relationships, and for her lifelong, unparalleled dedication to the conservation of Earth environment," according to the award citation released by the Tang Prize Foundation.
The Tang Prize is a biennial award established in 2012 by Taiwanese entrepreneur Samuel Yin (???), chairman of the Ruentex Group, to honor people who have made prominent contributions in four categories -- sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology, and rule of law.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel