We are currently living through a situation that most of us have never experienced in the Western and relatively peaceful world since the end of World War II. We are seeing governments taking drastic measures to limit the spread of what the World Health Organisation has named a pandemic: Covid-19, or coronavirus.
I have tried my best to take a step back from the worldwide hysteria and breathe deeply, which has actually proved to be extremely difficult. The spread of Covid-19 is still on the rise as well as the deaths resulting from it, especially in Europe where all my family and friends live (while I'm in New-Zealand). The fact that the media is portraying this as the end of the world does not help: as bad it is, I think it's worth remembering that it is not the end of the world. Nevertheless, the crisis unfolding in front of our eyes is very serious and overwhelming.
I believe that we can take away many things from what is happening: the spread of the virus in our ultra-connected and global world, governments' incredible shut down measures, individuals astonishing reactions (raiding supermarkets or not respecting self-isolation) against the health of communities, and so on and so forth. Here are the three things that I will remember from what's happening now and the connections I make with the global climate crisis.
The planet is taking a breathe while we're getting sick
The world has seen a large drop of emissions since the virus outbreak. Emissions have fallen by 25% in China due to coronavirus only. Covid-19 highlights once again how much our activities are based and how reliant we are on fossil-fuels. Refineries, factories or even flights have been shut down. People don't travel to work anymore (in their cars), schools are closed. The fact is, this is having tremendous impacts on all sectors of the economy. So while we're getting sick and self-isolating for the sake of humanity, the planet is having a wee break from the pollution we emit. This is compelling: that means that we do indeed have the power and means to pollute less, and that another way is possible to avoid climate breakdown.
Food for thought.
Governments have the means to act, they just decide not to
Governments and companies have been pushing back on environmental measures for decades, despite the urgency of human-induced global warming. They often argue against change by saying that you can't shift the system overnight without harming the economy and therefore people (which is true) and that we need to consider economic growth and jobs versus the environment (which isn't true). We have not yet understood that the economy needs to be in line with our environment, otherwise we'll all die.
The measures that have been taken around the world to stop the spread of Covid-19 have shown that governments can act. Entire countries are being shut down, public spaces closed, people confined in their homes, being forced to work from home or even not to work at all. Governments have unlocked tremendous amount of money to help businesses and people to keep their jobs. These measures are taken to save humanity. Of course, this is not what we wish for in the long-run; this is an emergency situation and people are suffering from it. However, it does show that we are capable of fast, efficient change on a systemic level. The narrative used against climate action "we don't really have the means to act right now" is not valid. The response to Covid-19 can be an opportunity to implement a low-carbon strategy to help economies recover. Climate change is also a threat for humanity - what are we waiting for?
If we're worried now, what will it be in the future?
I'm worried about the future, I babble about this all the time. But I'd say even more now: Covid-19 is obviously very concerning and I'm not minimising its gravity. However, most people recover from it. In the grand scheme of things, a tiny percentage of the population has contracted it (so far) and a fairly small percentage are dying.
This should be a wake-up call: this kind of situation will happen more often in the future due to climate change. As the world gets warmer, diseases are going to travel faster in our ultra-connected and global world. As the permafrost thaws (the ice in Artic and Antartica) bacteria and viruses that have been dormant for thousands of years and potentially deadly are going to wake up, and we'll have no cure for them, exactly like Covid-19. How will we react to this if we're so lost and overwhelmed with Covid-19?
As the Covid-19 crisis unfolds in front of us, I can't prevent but feel overwhelmed and wondering what will happen next. What will the post-Covid-19 world look like?
I have three main questions:
1) Will we learn from Covid-19 on how to respond to a global crisis at every level (government, societal and individual) on a systemic level?
2) Will we keep decreasing our emissions and implement a low-carbon strategy to save the economy, or are we going to go back to business-as-usual?
3) Will this teach us anything about the importance of community, support and resilience?
We will need those if we want to survive the climate crisis.