(1/5) There is this rhetoric going around in legal as well as non-legal circles all over the world that China should pay for the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past few days, I have read articles that have attempted to make a case before the ICJ, and under International Health Regs.

(2/5) The diseases of today, like MERS, SARS, Zika, and the novel COVID-19 are all different versions of the same virus - which is constantly evolving and developing resistance due to the changing climate conditions.

(3/5) Changes in Earth's ecosystem (because of climate change!) result in a spillover effect, where pathogens and viruses jump from nature to animals, and then to human beings. This is also known as the One Health Triad.

(4/5) Everyone, individuals and States are contributing to the changing ecosystem of planet Earth. Therefore, countering such diseases is a collective responsibility, just like protecting the environment is.

(5/5) A global health crisis can happen anywhere and no single country, individual or entity ought to be held responsible for it. Luckily, I am not the only one saying this and some Profs at Yale and Harvard agree:
https://www-latimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-04-02/coronavirus-pandemics-animals-habitat-ecology?_amp=true https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/news/coronavirus-climate-change-and-the-environment/