Emergent diseases are largely the result of a deteriorating global environment. A major pandemic resulting from say rainforest destruction may well be the sleeper environmental issue that catapults global ecological sustainability, and changes required for its attainment, onto the world stage. A good first candidate: Avian flu.

New diseases arise as environments destroyed, says UN

Changes to the environment that are sweeping the planet are bringing about a rise in infectious diseases, the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has warned. Loss of forests; the building of roads and dams; urban growth; the clearing of natural habitats for agriculture; mining; and pollution of coastal waters are promoting conditions under which new and old pathogens can thrive...