World must hold onto climate change wins from Covid-19

Published Thu, Jul 9, 2020 · 09:50 PM

AS GOVERNMENTS, multilateral organisations and corporations around the world rush to find solutions to address the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, the environmental crisis has come into sharp focus, perhaps as never before.

In the struggle for recovery, a moment waits to be seized, one which could all too easily slip out of grasp. It must be seized and held onto with unwavering conviction.

Global carbon emissions are expected to fall by 8 per cent this year, representing their biggest drop since the end of World War II, thanks to the effect of widespread lockdowns on polluting economic activity.

Many will have delighted in the attendant appearance of clear skies and the uninterrupted sound of birdsong, and a lack of traffic noise and congestion. These new sensory experiences produced as a result of reduced carbon emissions are the welcome but unintended consequence of the…