Corona virus shows what a real emergency looks like...now let's address climate change

The Corona virus outbreak has turned life upside down in countries across the world. It has brought unprecedented restrictions on normal life, forcing people to stay at home, distance and isolate.

The present state we find ourselves in also shows people exactly what an emergency looks like. The whole workings of society have been mobilised to counter the threat of the virus. No business as usual, no waiting till the money is available to act – the actions have been taken immediately as a matter of life and death.

Many people have said life will never be the same, once the virus has passed. This maybe true, it should be true. There is ofcourse always the danger that things will return to business as usual, with this period being viewed as an aberration, unlikely to occur again for some time. It could also mean a doubling up of destructive processes to make up for the time lost during the crisis.

This would be a very stupid position to adopt. Lessons need to be learned, life cannot go on as before.

One of the positive developments coming out of the measures taken to counter the virus has been the drop in pollution and emissions – largely due to much of the environmentally damaging activity undertaken on a daily basis having stopped.

A somewhat revealing statistic that puts things in perspective comes from China, where 3,500 people died due to the virus but it is said 50,000 didn’t die due to the drop in pollution levels caused by the economic slowdown.

Fish have returned to the waterways of Venice for the first time in decades. There are many other benefits that have come for the environment because the economic  juggernaut has slowed allowing the earth to breath.

Moving forward to the time after the virus, the same urgency applied to the Corona emergency needs transferring to other threats facing humanity like climate change, pollution and biodiversity destruction.

The positives for addressing these issues for having several months of business not as usual need to be learned and built upon. The economic model must change and change quickly to one that promotes sustainable living and outlaws environmentally destructive practices.

Government at all levels has seen an emergency and just what can be done to address it. Time to transfer the means and approach onto environmental matters, not put them on the back burner to a day when things can be afforded.

People will have learned much about themselves and ways of living over this period. Things will change, hopefully for the better. They certainly need to alter for the common good. If the Corona virus has taught nothing else it must be the importance of living in harmony with nature and coming together in community to confront adversity at maximum times of trouble.

published - Wanstead and woodford Guardian - 9/4/2020