Less then two months away from 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, but it’s been with us long enough to have numerous impacts on the environment and climate change. Let’s have a look at some environmental issues through the lens of the COVID pandemic.
Climate Change
Like the pandemic, climate change from human greenhouse gas emissions brings sickness, death, and displacement, along with a very high economic price. It has already made conditions more favourable to the spread of some infectious diseases, including insect-borne (Lyme disease, malaria, etc.) and waterborne diseases. It also increases the risk of new global and regional pandemics. For example, glacier and permafrost melt from climate change, has the potential to unleash deadly bacteria and viruses that have been dormant for thousands of years.. Scientific studies in recent years have confirmed this possibility, and yet, the issue attracted little public attention until COVID-19 hit.
One of the few environmental impacts reported by media as a positive impact from COVID is actually bad news . The global interruption in human activities, such as less travel, has resulted in a 17% year-over-year reduction of carbon emissions during the April lockdown (). However, according to a UN report released in September, while emissions of CO2 plummeted during the lockdown, as the world returned to work, concentrations of the long-lasting greenhouse gas have continued to rise in the atmosphere. The report also said it would require a pandemic-sized carbon slowdown every year for the next decade to prevent us from missing our 1.5 C target.
Moreover, the Paris Climate Accord of 2015, by which every country pledged to take action to keep global average temperatures from rising more than 2 C beyond pre-industrial levels, has been delayed and will not re-convene for at least another year. This could lead some countries not to incorporate climate change strategies in their stimulus plans.
Forest Fire and Deforestation
The outbreak of this pandemic has diverted government and public attention away from some other urgent environmental issues. Two of them are deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, and wildfires in California on an unprecedented scale
The Amazon rainforest, which absorbs 5% of global emissions, saw deforestation rise by 55% in the first four months of 2020 compared to 2019. With COVID case numbers now over 5.5 million in Brazil, the Brazilian government has not allocated enough resources to stop the resurgence of illegal deforestation. This adds an extra burden to the current climate change emergency.
While earth’s lungs are being attacked in the south, forests in the north are in flames. Before this year, California’s worst year of fire was in 2018. The first three quarters of 2020 have seen nearly 4 million acres burn, more than twice the 2018 total.
Luckily, there have still been some positive impacts on the environment.
Air Pollution
The global interruption has actually led to a decrease in air pollution. Research shows that experts estimated that the reduction in pollution may have saved at least 77,000 lives in two months.
Sustainable Energy Transition
The pandemic may have pushed the fossil fuel industry into “terminal decline” as demand decreases and governments shifted their focus to accelerate the clean energy transition. Stimulus programs from governments with a focus on renewable energy and climate-friendly projects could create millions of direct jobs.
The focus of long-term transition plans are also repositioned or reinforced. This September, as the biggest carbon emitter in the world, China stepped up and announced its goal to become “carbon neutral” before 2060. By doing so, it joins dozens of other countries in adopting mid-century “net zero” climate targets called for by the Paris Agreement. “Carbon Neutral” means not only reducing carbon emissions, but also offsetting emissions through natural systems or absorption technologies.
Biodiversity
Scientific evidence shows that COVID-19 virus was likely to have been exposed to humans through wildlife consumption. Biodiversity loss is a key driver of emerging infectious diseases, and protecting biodiversity is vital to human health, well-being and economic prosperity. While governments and industries have acknowledged the urgency of climate change, the current crisis may motivate governments to integrate biodiversity considerations onto the current recovery plans from the COVID crisis to help address these risks, while providing jobs and businesses opportunities to society.
Environmental Justice
COVID has cast a spotlight on largely unnoticed segments of society, such as low-income people in polluted neighbourhoods. Research shows that the pandemic has disproportionately affected lower income, racialized and crowded communities. For example, there is an association with higher mortality rates for individuals who had a COVID-19 infection and who was exposed to higher levels of air pollution. Communities of colour and low-income communities tend to be more exposed to heavily polluted land uses, and these communities which are vulnerable to COVID are also more likely to be vulnerable to other disasters. COVID is making these invisible communities visible again.
The COVID-19 pandemic is altering the current situations of these environmental issues directly or indirectly, by altering their nature, shedding a spotlight on them, reallocating resources or reshaping policies. The good news is that the pandemic is awakening us to our mistake of treating environmental issues and global health policy as separate issues. As with the new behaviours and practices we adopted during the pandemic, we can adapt to prevent and mitigate the effects from climate change and other environmental issues. We need to acknowledge the dire threats we are facing and how intertwined the nature of environmental issues and public health are, urge suitable policies and practices and drive demands for change from government, industry and individuals, and rebuild a society that is more equitable, sustainable, and resilient. If we fail, the next pandemic could be much, much worse.