Yahoo News Coronavirus: Greener, more equal economy must emerge after impact of Covid-19, experts say
The vast shutdown necessary to fight coronavirus in countries around the world has had rapid and profound impacts on the environment.
In the UK, the shutdown has already seen a huge leap in air quality with measurements of toxic small particulate matter down by as much as 50 per cent in some major cities.
Similar effects have been recorded across the world as industry has paused while governments grapple with the pandemic.
Amid the devastation caused by the virus, the shutdown has been credited with giving hope of how a low-carbon economy may be achieved.
Covid-19 has claimed over 25,000 lives, and already caused unprecedented economic shock across the world, which is expected to lead to mass unemployment.
“And that could fundamentally destabilise the world system, which is already starting to buckle under this pressure.”
He added: “Fascist movements are on the march in Europe, the EU is in the process of slow-motion disintegration, it’s difficult to imagine it much worse, but we have to be prepared for that and take it very seriously.
“Heating beyond 1.5 – 2 degrees leads to scenarios in terms of food supply that are too catastrophic to comprehend. We need rapid, very urgent reductions in emissions.”
Professor Sam Fankhauser, co-director of the Grantham Research Institute and former deputy chief economist at the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, said the Covid-19 crisis presented an opportunity to build a greener economy.
He said: “As we move into rebuilding the economy we can pay attention to the carbon intensity of the stimulus packages.
“There are a lot of things that need to happen in a zero carbon economy that are consistent with a rapid boost to the economy.
“The three tests which economists use for a good stimulus is they have to be timely, targeted and temporary and there are a lot of climate change measures which fall into that category. So we can have a low-carbon recovery, that’s absolutely possible.”
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