Climate Change in the time of COVID-19

Written by: Meutia Safira Fakhraini

“Let us tackle both, and leave future generations with the hope that this moment is a
true turning point for people and planet” - UN Secretary-General António Guterres5

Living in uncertainty, could be a pivotal point to illustrate how two major global
crises of today are interlinked—the COVID-19 and Climate Change. Although it has
been estimated that COVID-19 pandemic caused carbon emissions to plummet, it will
not substantially contribute to reaching the Paris Agreement target in the long term3.
Conversely, there is no silver lining in economic sense, as it led to the decrease of
global GDP by 8.2 percent in 2020 alone2.
In their study, Vinke et al. (2020) have investigated that both of these global
emergencies will need to take into account mitigation, adaptation, and good
governance6. Far-reaching to know, both COVID-19 and Climate Change have caused
highly cost detrimental effects and require immediate actions. Nonetheless, COVID-19
follows through a rapid movement, while climate change walks in a slow motion, thus
different approaches will be needed. In COVID-19 context, health infrastructure urgently
needed to be improved. Albeit, study has found that aligning its mitigation plan with
climate action, by reducing sources of pollution that are highly associated with the
exacerbation of respiratory disease, will be the key to a sustainable economic recovery
from this global pandemic1.
In the big picture, transition to a low carbon economy can help us to combat
climate change in the long run4. In a macroeconomy sense, policy reformation to a
green recovery, such as applying tax policies on carbon intensive industries and
transportations, could shift consumers’ attention to the existing more eco-friendly
options. Side by side, green businesses will gradually emerge, as consumers’ tendency
for buying net carbon products will potentially remain high. Thereupon, promoting green
transition can sustainably help to reconstruct global development following COVID
19—essentially for the People, Planet, and Profit.
References
1. Harvard T.H. Chan Public Health School. 2020. Coronavirus, Climate Change,
and the Environment: A Conversation on COVID-19 with Dr. Aaron Bernstein,
Director of Harvard Chan C-CHANGE.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/subtopics/coronavirus-and-climate-chan
ge/. , accessed on 5 May 2021.
2. MIT. 2021. How will COVID-19 ultimately impact climate change? .
https://news.mit.edu/2021/how-will-covid-19-ultimately-impact-climate-change-01
29, accessed on 5 May 2021.
3. UNEP. 2020. Emissions Gap Report.
https://www.unep.org/emissions-gap-report-2020, accessed on 10 May 2021
4. United Nations. 2020. ‘Green Recovery from COVID-19 can slow climate
change: UN Environment Report. https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1079602 ,
accessed 10 May 2021
5. UN News. 2020. Make COVID recovery ‘a true turning point’ for people and
planet, Guterres urges, calling for concerted action by G20.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1071602 , accessed on 11 May 2021.
6. Vinke, K., Gabrysch, S., Paoletti, E., Rockström, J. and Schellnhuber, H. J.
(2020) “Corona and the climate: a comparison of two emergencies,” Global
Sustainability. Cambridge University Press, 3, p. E25.