Zoonotic viruses have sacrificed hundreds of millions of people throughout human history. There are currently 1.7 million unidentified viruses estimated to be circulating in mammal and bird populations. It is foreseeable that in the near future, another of these will transmit to people, heralding the start of the next pandemic—one potentially more deadly than COVID-19. At the core of this article is a call for pre-emptive protection of the natural environment and its regenerative systems as the first fundamental step in the prevention of future epidemics and pandemics. While zoonoses originate in nature, the predominant legal discipline, managing these crises, is international health law which is invoked reactively once an outbreak has been reported. In this paper, we identify the need for a legal shift in epidemic and pandemic responses. In particular, we call for the incorporation of international environmental agreements to prevent the initial viral spillover from animal to human populations. We propose a strategy of strengthening existing agreements and a coupling of legal disciplines, such as health and environmental law, emphasizing the need for synergies across legal disciplines to enhance the emergence and management of future pandemics and epidemics. We introduce Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) Law to frame the required integration across legal instruments to regulate inextricably human-nature connections and advocate for the development of a Convention on Epidemics and Pandemics.

在整个人类历史上，人畜共患病毒已经牺牲了数亿人。目前估计有 170 万种不明病毒在哺乳动物和鸟类种群中传播。可以预见的是，在不久的将来，其中的另一种病毒将传播给人们，预示着下一次大流行的开始——一种可能比 COVID-19 更致命的流行病。本文的核心是呼吁先发制人地保护自然环境及其再生系统，作为预防未来流行病和大流行病的第一个基本步骤。虽然人畜共患病起源于自然界，但管理这些危机的主要法律纪律是国际卫生法，一旦报告爆发，就会被动地援引该法。在本文中，我们确定了对流行病和大流行病应对措施进行法律转变的必要性。特别是，我们呼吁纳入国际环境协议，以防止最初的病毒从动物传播到人群。我们提出了一项加强现有协议和法律学科耦合的战略，例如健康和环境法，强调需要跨法律学科协同增效，以加强未来流行病和流行病的出现和管理。我们引入了人与自然系统耦合 (CHANS) 法，以构建跨法律文书所需的整合，以规范人类与自然之间的紧密联系，并倡导发展 我们提出了一项加强现有协议和法律学科耦合的战略，例如健康和环境法，强调需要跨法律学科协同增效，以加强未来流行病和流行病的出现和管理。我们引入了人与自然系统耦合 (CHANS) 法，以构建跨法律文书所需的整合，以规范人类与自然之间的紧密联系，并倡导发展 我们提出了一项加强现有协议和法律学科耦合的战略，例如健康和环境法，强调需要跨法律学科协同增效，以加强未来流行病和流行病的出现和管理。我们引入了人与自然系统耦合 (CHANS) 法，以构建跨法律文书所需的整合，以规范人类与自然之间的紧密联系，并倡导发展流行病和大流行病公约。