Victor Trevor from the Godalming branch of Extinction Rebellion writes the group's latest column for Nub News.

I can only stand in awe of the sparkling intelligence and capabilities of men and women such as Uur ahin, the brilliant scientist whose work has spearheaded the development of a vaccine for COVID-19.

His work (and that of his colleagues) will undoubtedly bring hope and safety to unnumbered millions around the world. According to The Guardian, he is confident his product can "bash the virus over the head".

Despite this wonderful news, we will, for a very long time to come, carry with us the vast impact and costs of this dreadful crisis over so many different aspects of our lives: those who have been taken by the virus - well over a million dead around the world; jobs and businesses - many out of work and a looming fear of a recession; mental health - the Samaritans have had more than 150,000 calls directly linked to the pandemic; delayed medical care - overstretched hospitals and staff have had to cancel (postpone) cancer operations; and more besides.

But, can we at least try to start to "put it behind us" and look forward to a future bright with new hope? Well, it seems not: not unless there is a sea change, a quantum jump, a complete transformation in humanity's treatment of the natural world.

According to a number of other very bright minds, excellent scientists in their own field of study, who were asked to convene a workshop on behalf of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services IPBES, there is an increasing likelihood of new, and even more dangerous pandemics to contend with (remember Ebola): "The risk of pandemics is increasing rapidly, with more than five new diseases emerging in people every year, any one of which has the potential to spread and become pandemic.

"Future pandemics will emerge more often, spread more rapidly, do more damage to the world economy and kill more people than COVID-19 unless there is a transformative change in the global approach to dealing with infectious diseases".

What is their reason for issuing these dire warnings of worse to come? What awful circumstances and twist of nature could cause these predictions to become reality? Unfortunately, we have to look at the actions of mankind to find that answer: "The risk of a pandemic is driven by exponentially increasing anthropogenic changes. Blaming wildlife for the emergence of diseases is thus erroneous, because emergence is caused by human activities and the impacts of these activities on the environment."

Dr Peter Daszak, the chair of the IPBES workshop and the president of EcoHealth Alliance, states that because of mankind's own actions, prompted by "unsustainable trade, production and consumption", we were already well along the path that led us to into contact with the COVID-19 virus: "There is no great mystery about the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic – or of any modern pandemic. The same human activities that drive climate change and biodiversity loss also drive pandemic risk through their impacts on our environment.

"Changes in the way we use land; the expansion and intensification of agriculture; and unsustainable trade, production and consumption disrupt nature and increase contact between wildlife, livestock, pathogens and people. This is the path to pandemics."

The message of the report is very clear: it is human activities which bring about our exposure to these deadly viruses; our ongoing assault upon the natural environment is increasingly putting the whole human race at risk of destroying itself.

"COVID-19 is at least the sixth global health pandemic since the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918, and although it has its origins in microbes carried by animals, like all pandemics its emergence has been entirely driven by human activities."

Humanity, at all levels, individuals, local businesses, multinationals and especially governments, must come to terms with this simple truth: we have to stop irrevocably damaging and invading the natural environment of other living creatures, otherwise we shall continue to pay the consequences of doing that, at a horrifying and unacceptable cost to us all.

When the world is celebrating the enormous achievements of some brilliant scientists, we would be wise to see the bigger picture and take heed of the dire warnings of their very capable colleagues in the sciences of the natural world.

We are on a very dangerous path that will only lead us to encountering more and potentially worse viruses, leaving us to search for more and more cures, all the while suffering the pains that they bring.

Caring for the environment, and reversing our destruction of the natural world, is the road of prevention, which leads to a far better and brighter future for us all.

Victor Trevor is a member of the Godalming XR group. Email the group here for more information.