15 Jul 2020
If one were to explain the present world to time-traveller from only a few months ago, it would be extremely difficult. The sky has turned a deeper shade of blue, “to zoom” has become a verb for communication rather than movement, the song of birds has replaced the deafening din of traffic, and the sceptics (who once said that reducing emissions would be impossible) have hence been proven wrong. Contrariwise, the economy is collapsing, globalization has halted, and social distancing has created mini-pandemics of loneliness and abuse. However, what do these changes (positive and negative) brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic mean for the environment? While there is a presently widespread notion that nature is healing, will this be sustained in the post-COVID-19 world?
On one hand, optimists say that the post-COVID-19 world would mark an environmental revolution. Not only is the pandemic teaching us how to prepare for the worst as governments become equipped and experienced enough to combat crises (keeping in mind the looming climate crisis), but humans, as a race, have also learnt two implementable lessons through this: first, the environment will retaliate ultimately – humans intruded on the natural habitats of animals as a result of which pathogens transferred from animals to humans – and second, humans are extremely dispensable, as the environment can sustain itself without humans.
On the other hand, pessimists counter by saying that “a new green dawn would only be possible in a fool’s paradise.” While we may want to redesign our systems to marry economy with environment now, the leaders may have different plans: according to the Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, those in power may exploit crises for harsher policies, many of which disadvantage the environment, while the public is distracted. Although this may seem like an event far in the future, it truly is not; for example, the US Environmental Protection Agency has allowed companies to violate pollution regulations, as long as those violations can be justified in conjunction with the pandemic. Another looming question is of whether governments will even have the money to fight environmental issues once the pandemic is over given the forthcoming economic recession: while governments focus their budgets on creating more jobs instead of tackling environmental issues, their promises of renewable energy are also waitlisted given the plummeting oil prices.
Therefore, whether or not there is a positive before-and-after of the pandemic depends on the reactions of the leaders: are we looking forward to more events like the Petersberg Climate Dialogue (where environment ministers from thirty countries gathered to plan an environmentally-friendly recovery from the pandemic) or more instances like the Czech Republic’s prime minister stating that the EU should forget about the Green Deal amid the virus?
However, a crucial force that can shake administrations and leaderships is the public. Ergo, the public needs to realize their role in this, for the environmental crises are inseparable from the COVID-19 pandemic. As The Guardian puts it, disasters and emergencies “rip open the fabric of normality” and through that rip, we can peek into the possibilities of other worlds. While we have seen glimmers of hope for the environment during this time with daily emissions from cars down 60% from last year and Chinese authorities closing live animal markets like the one in Wuhan, turning these glimmers into bright gleams will require the public to evaluate and work for change. Do we really want to return to normalcy, by securing polluting multinational companies, or do we want to investigate radical alternatives that may change life as we know it? Let alone convincing administrations for environmental protection, do we commit to making the right choices post the pandemic? One of the key arguments of the pessimists is that given the concept of hedonic adaptation (the tendency of humans to return to stable levels of happiness despite major changes), we will ultimately return to our old habits and the environment will suffer, yet again.
Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic will certainly create a before-and-after for environmental issues – whether the pessimists or the optimists would be correct is to be seen, for it entirely relies on the reactions of and the choices made by everybody, the common folk and administrations alike.