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xxiv A History of Global Health rule of law and justice in every nation combatting crime, arms trade, corruption, and bribery promoting equitable, transparent, and participatory institutions at every level and guaranteeing legal identity for all. SDG 17 recognizes that partnerships are necessary for the achievement of the previous sixteen SDGs. This goal calls for global organizations, governments, philanthropists, scientists, academia, and members of both public and private sec- tors to collaborate, innovate, fund, and implement the changes necessary to heal our planet and to create a sustainable future that is equitable and just for all people everywhere. The seventeen SDGs are a radical commitment to global health in all its fac- ets. While the eradication of communicable and noncommunicable diseases remains critical, the social, cultural, economic, and environmental determinants of health are equally important. The SDGs are radically committed to social justice and the empowerment of marginalized populations around the world. This is critical to the mitigation of neoimperialism and neocolonialism. A close examination of the SDGs likewise reveals that each of us has an active role to play in creating a sustainable global environment where all can enjoy health, justice, and peace. The future of life on the earth is our individual and collective responsibility. The interconnectedness between all humans, nonhuman life, and the environment is central to our survival—a truth made manifest through the emergence of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19. Declared a global pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020, the virus has dis- rupted lives around the world. By November 2020, roughly 55 million people had been infected, and over 1.3 million people had died. The long-term effect of COVID-19 remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that COVID-19 has taught us a great deal about the importance of global health in all of its facets. First, the pandemic has magnified health disparities, with oppressed and mar- ginalized groups such as Indigenous populations, African Americans, the Roma, the Rohingya, the poor, and populations suffering from higher burdens of chronic diseases experiencing higher rates of infection and death. In countries such as the United States and Myanmar, the continued neglect of marginalized populations due to systemic racism has led to higher overall infection and death rates. In contrast, New Zealand ensured that no one was left behind and that all had access to basic care and, as a result, has achieved COVID-free status. The pandemic serves as a reminder that no one is healthy until we are all healthy. Communities are only as strong as their most vulnerable members. Achieving social justice is critical to our collective wellness. Second, the pandemic has writ large the importance of the natural environment to human health. The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease that results from close contact between animal vectors and humans. As global climate change and environmental degradation force humans and animals to live in increasingly constrained spaces and compete for limited resources, zoonotic diseases akin to Ebola and COVID-19 will continue to emerge. Preserving the environment is critical to protecting human life in the present and in the future. Brenda S. Gardenour Walter