COVID-19 and the emerging development crisis are a stark reminder of the consequences of ecological fragility and complexity. As devastating as this pandemic has been, such outbreaks are likely to escalate on the road to 2030 unless development pathways and our relationship with nature are remade. A key take-away from this pandemic is that our ability to prevent complex global crises in the future will rest on our ability to put in place a new generation of development policies that put nature at the center. The nexus of nature, crisis and complexity makes it clear that development can no longer be seen as a purely socioeconomic enterprise based on a set of linear targets and goals, but rather as the emergent outcome of a complex socio-ecological system.