5 Climate Action Lessons We Can Learn From the Coronavirus Pandemic - Provided by GlobalCitizen.org
1. Listen to Scientists
Scientists have been warning about the consequences of climate change for decades: rising sea levels, catastrophic heat waves, extreme storms, droughts, and more.
But politicians have largely failed to listen to these warnings and have, in many cases, done the opposite of what scientists recommend. Even as climate change has demonstrably worsened, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and natural resource exploitation accelerates.
2. Governments can act rapidly in a crisis
Governments have known about the threat of climate change for decades, yet have failed to meaningfully confront the problem, claiming there’s no rush to act, it would be economically ruinous, and it’s up to other countries to take the lead.
While the coronavirus pandemic is taking place on a much shorter time scale, it has shown that governments can put aside these concerns and act forcefully together to overcome a crisis.
In a matter of weeks, countries have imposed sweeping, society-wide changes to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Countries have mobilized trillions of dollars for emergency relief funds, nationalized critical industries, and coordinated colossal public shutdowns to curb the spread of the virus and save as many lives as possible.
3. Emergencies require massive investments in infrastructure.
As the coronavirus began to spread around the world, governments restricted travel, imposed public shutdowns, and worked to bolster health care facilities.
These measures highlight the many ways in which infrastructure is critically important to any functioning society and can either strengthen or weaken a response to a crisis. It’s no coincidence, then, that climate action requires similar infrastructure interventions.
4. Invest in displaced and vulnerable communities
The pandemic has disrupted life for billions of people worldwide, leading to mass job loss and economic disenfranchisement, and acutely endangering vulnerable populations.
Overcoming the coronavirus involves not just stopping its spread but also ensuring that people are taken care of throughout the crisis and in the aftermath.
5. We have to take collective action
The coronavirus pandemic can only be curbed with effective social distancing, and social distancing can only work if as many people as possible participate.
Climate action calls for a similarly all-in approach — except in an even broader sense.
Companies have to overhaul their operations to reduce their environmental impact, every one of us, especially those of us in high-income nations, has to pursue lifestyle changes to minimize our personal footprints, and governments have to enact laws that prioritize the health of the planet.
Source: GlobalCitizen.Org