The human and economic toll of COVID-19 has shocked the world into an awareness of the dangers and implications of zoonotic diseases — defined as diseases that transfer from animals to humans, sometimes with devastating consequences. Unprecedented environmental pressures including biodiversity and ecosystem loss, wildlife consumption and trafficking, climate change, and intensive land development and farming techniques have put human populations closer than ever to wild and domestic animals, providing new opportunities for disease spillover to occur.

To respond to the immediacy of COVID-19, and prevent future global pandemics, a new systems-based approach is needed — one that incorporates equity, sustainable development, environmental protection, food nutrition and security, and public health. Join the Milken Institute as we convene experts across sectors to identify ways to ensure truly sustainable planetary and public health.