Humans, Animals and Pandemics: what needs to change?

Contributor(s): Dr Jonathan Birch | What steps to improve animal welfare do governments need to take to save humanity from a catastrophe that may be far greater than the ongoing COVID disaster? Governments around the world have long identified an influenza pandemic as one of the greatest risks they face. Enduring a coronavirus pandemic will do virtually nothing to reduce that risk - unless it leads to a step change in the precautions we take against it. Measures previously seen as proportionate can now be seen, in light of COVID-19, to be far too weak. From banning live-animal markets to incentivising reductions in meat consumption, Jonathan Birch argues that the cost of compensating those affected by a range of (previously seen as unreasonable) measures will be less costly than managing another pandemic. Meet our speaker Jonathan Birch is an Associate Professor in LSE's Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, specializing in the philosophy of the biological sciences. Let us know what you think or ask Jonathan a question after you have watched the film via Twitter @birchlse #LSEFestival Further reading: Preventing the next pandemic - Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission (UN Environment Programme report) This film is part of the 'Festival Shorts' series, 10-minute talks by LSE experts released during Festival week Keywords: Shaping the Post-COVID World, pandemics, models, predictions, animals, farming, intensive farming, probability, future pandemics.