Commentaries

Annela Anger-Kraavi, a senior researcher in climate change policy and economics at the University of Cambridge, highlights three positive and three negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic on climate change.

The coronavirus pandemic, like climate change, teaches us about the importance of mitigating risk to ensure our future prosperity. Should we place all our hopes on technology to deliver this safer future?

This briefing identifies key recovery policies that the UK government could introduce to both respond to the crisis of COVID-19, and support the country in meeting its commitment to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

It has been produced in association with the COP26 Universities Network, a growing group of more than 30 UK-based universities working together to help deliver an ambitious outcome at the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow and beyond.

The COVID-19 global pandemic is pushing institutions and governments to their limits. People are worried about their health, their families, losing their jobs and the uncertainty the future holds. The economic fallout of this crisis is still uncertain too, and we may well wake up in a few months to a world completely transformed. While the current focus should be on minimising the loss of life, governments around the world are already responding to support a faltering, if not free falling, global economy. The stimulus packages provided will total in the trillions of dollars, euros, pounds, yen, yuan, pesos and many other currencies.

This crisis has exposed many vulnerabilities that can be traced back to the unsustainable development that has ravaged the environment, and yet failed to eradicate poverty and hunger. Governments should take a moment to reflect, learn from past mistakes and redirect development towards a sustainable future. Medical professionals are putting their lives on the line to contain the virus; decision-makers owe it to them to rebuild the world in a way that makes it more resilient to similar situations in the future. Political and financial leaders, said International Energy Agency head Dr Fatih Birol, should consider directing economic stimulus packages that “shape policies … to step up our ambition to tackle climate change.”

How can the government response to COVID-19 help create a more sustainable, resilient, healthy future?

See the full Commentary on the Grantham Institute blog via the link below.

Coronavirus is here. Its impact on our health systems, economies and behaviours cannot yet be understood, but analogies have already been drawn between this immediate challenge and the more chronic, insidious climate change challenge.

Any broader analysis of coronavirus, beyond that which centres around how to minimise and mitigate its impact, arguably risks being insensitive or inappropriate at this time. Millions of vulnerable people of all ages are in danger and the UK’s own perennially optimistic prime minister has said that we must be prepared to lose some loved ones before their time. However, it’s critical to reflect on any lessons we might learn from coronavirus so that we can tackle climate change as effectively as possible.

See the full Commentary on the Grantham Institute blog via the link below.

Stock markets around the world had some of their worst performance in decades this past week, well surpassing that of the global financial crisis in 2008. Restrictions in the free movement of people is disrupting economic activity across the world as measures to control the coronavirus roll out.

There is a strong link between economic activity and global carbon dioxide emissions, due to the dominance of fossil fuel sources of energy. This coupling suggests we might be in for an unexpected surprise due to the coronavirus pandemic: a slowdown of carbon dioxide emissions due to reduced energy consumption.

Based on new projections for economic growth in 2020, we suggest the impact of the coronavirus might significantly curb global emissions.

The effect is likely to be less pronounced than during the global financial crisis (GFC). And emissions declines in response to past economic crises suggest a rapid recovery of emissions when the pandemic is over.

But prudent spending of economic stimulus measures, and a permanent adoption of new work behaviours, could influence how emissions evolve in future.