COVID-19 has closed the world in an unprecedented way and focused all attention of the leaders and societies around the world on one mission – to find solutions for limiting the pandemic`s effects. This entirely new situation put on stand-by the efforts to tackle emergency global crises such as climate change and the lost ecological balance.
We know pretty well the results of human interventions in nature - the global warming and the increase of the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, 80% deforestation, and 50% biomass loss for less than a century, the altered habitats of the animals, the emerging of new diseases. After HIV, Ebola, and SARS, COVID-19 is another virus that is transmitted from animals to humans and is a direct result of our harsh intervention into the Earth’s ecosystems.
Just a few months ago, 2020 seemed to be the year of scalable transformative political decisions, related to climate change and ecological imbalances. The coronavirus crisis, however, has put them at risk:
- The implementation and the financial support for the EU Green Deal looks shaken;
- The annual UN Climate Change conference - COP 26, planned for November in Scotland, has been postponed. During the conference 196 countries were supposed to present their plans for the reduction of CO2 emissions;
- Another important event - the UN conference to the Convention on Biological Diversity scheduled for October in Kunming, China has also been disrupted. The summit was perceived as the most significant event for the protection of biodiversity in the decade where was planned global targets for nature protection to be agreed.
Still, we can look to the effects of the pandemic from another perspective. Wouldn’t be possible for the Covid-19 crisis to become a good catalyst for mobilizing the world in addressing other significant risks to our lives in the future - particularly those related to climate change and biodiversity loss? This is a scenario that should be evaluated and supported. There are encouraging signs and initiatives to the topic:
- The European Alliance for Green Recovery has been launched by 180 political and eco leaders. They call for an increase of investments in green development after COVID-19 crisis and urge distinct planning for “new model of prosperity”, based on sustainability and the protection of biodiversity.
- Referring to the experience from the Coronavirus crises 17 EU environmental ministers have called for a green recovery of Europe by minimizing the costs and risks related to our inaction to climate and ecological crisis. The Commissioner Franz Timmermans has openly said that we should not pay the price twice - once for the recovery of the traditional economy and for its transformation into a green one after that.
- The German Chancellor Angela Markel, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have all encouraged national governments not to abandon their plans for the transformation of economies from grey to green and to use the current economic crisis for implementing reforms.
- Along with traditional green campaigns, a new activist format has begun to emerge - employees put pressure on their management to implement green practices. In contrast to traditional labor union’s demands for higher wages, they urge for climate-friendly reorganizations in their companies. Scalable campaigns in that line have been launched in corporations such as Google, Well Fargo, and others.
- Last but not least, the rapid expansion of the digital culture due to remote work in social distance mode fosters GreenTech businesses and digital-based solutions for the climate and biodiversity protection.
There are solutions. There is also momentum. The world's experience in managing the global coronavirus crisis can and must be applied to address the environmental crisis.
Urgent action is needed today and the same scale of engagement of leadership, academia, and communities to prevent potentially more destructive consequences than that of the virus. It requires significant political acts and economic reforms, but also our collective wisdom and commitment to providing financial, media, and economic mechanisms. Last but not least, it requires a change in our personal habits to live with the understanding and responsibility that the Earth gives us life, food, and environment for development. That She is our home.
