Josep Lluís Martí, professor in the Department of Law and vice-rector for innovation projects

The world will never be the same. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the Covid-19 illness, is a game changer. True, we are all a bit tired of hearing such sweeping pronouncements. People said globalization was a game changer, that technology was a game changer, and, more specifically, that artificial intelligence was a game changer. But it was also all true. The arrival of SARS-CoV-2 has set off dizzying changes that, in many cases, had been brewing for years, some quite positive and others very dangerous.

The arrival of SARS-CoV-2 has set off dizzying changes that, in many cases, had been brewing for years, some quite positive and others very dangerous

This is not the first pandemic we have experienced, nor will it be the last. Nor are pandemics or even global health in general the only causes for concern in the sphere of planetary wellbeing. The challenges we are facing are colossal and urgent, even if their repercussions are not always visible in the short term, from climate change to nuclear security, global financial regulation, tax coordination or the fight against growing global inequalities. However, this crisis exemplifies like no other what all these challenges have in common: it is a doubly global problem insofar as it affects everyone around the world and we will only succeed in beating it if we find a coordinated solution on a planetary scale. One need only look at what is happening right now in China and South Korea, the only two countries that can claim to have controlled the first wave of the pandemic: their borders remain closed out of terror that a traveller from Europe or the United States might trigger a new outbreak. As long as the epidemic remains unchecked in even a single country, we will all be at risk.

It is in the face of such doubly global problems, both major and complex, that we need more than ever to reorganize our research and push the limits of our knowledge in an urgent, interdisciplinary way aimed at finding practical solutions. The Planetary Wellbeing project, launched by Pompeu Fabra University in 2018, is more meaningful and important than ever.

It is in the face of such doubly global problems, both major and complex, that we need more than ever to reorganize our research and push the limits of our knowledge in an urgent, interdisciplinary way aimed at finding practical solutions

Such a crucial, urgent and complex question as that being posed today by governments around the world regarding how to reorganize social and economic life at this stage of the crisis can only be answered rigorously if we combine technical knowledge of epidemiology with that of technology, economics, political science, law and ethics, to name just a few. Consider just two of the many dimensions of this problem. On the one hand, severe restrictions have been placed on our freedoms at all levels and in all countries and some crisis management models could be harmful to democracy. On the other, it is clear to everyone that the system for global governance in general, and for dealing with global health crises in particular, i.e. the WHO, was not sufficiently prepared to deal with a pandemic like this. We thus need to rethink our political, legal and socioeconomic models, overhauling the system of international governance, as well as our national and local systems. SARS-CoV-2 has been a game changer on a planetary scale. A public and global university such as ours has a responsibility to study the new rules of the game in depth.