The corona virus has affected daily life so much that its effects can be seen from space. Millions of people have been quarantined in China, and satellite images show that factory closures and homelessness have reduced air pollution. Companies have turned to telecommuting and schools and universities have closed. Countries are moving fast to save the lives of citizens.
The rapid response of countries to the outbreak of the coronavirus raises the question of how different it would be if governments responded to the climate change crisis like the coronavirus. The climate change crisis is no less than the Corona crisis; But we do not see such a quick reaction to it.
“May Boeve, CEO of Environmental Protection Group 350, says:
“The corona crisis has shown that governments and people can react quickly in the short term. “The climate change movement has been calling for the same response from governments and the people for years, but we have not seen such a quick response.”
According to him, the main concern is not the mobilization of forces in the short term; Because it is possible to do so. The main concern is that governments are reluctant to do so.
The corona crisis and climate change have many similarities; In both cases, researchers provide the necessary guidance to the public, and in both cases there is public health. Climate change in the form of extreme heat waves and other catastrophes has taken human lives and led to water and food shortages. The climate change crisis is projected to displace hundreds of millions of people in the future.
Air pollution from fossil fuels, in addition to affecting climate change, kills millions of people every year. Diseases such as malaria and dengue fever spread as mosquitoes migrate to new areas, and just like the corona outbreak, people living in deprived areas suffer the most from climate change.
According to Boeve, if countries and peoples responded to the climate change crisis like the outbreak of the Corona virus, then the situation would be dramatically different from what we see today. Governments quickly funded renewable energy plants to make it accessible to all. Although renewable energy is cheap and available, large investments are needed to provide it to all people, which is why governments are turning away from it.
After forest fires and devastating floods, countries eventually blamed climate change for the disasters and forced factories to reduce their carbon emissions. With the help of regenerative agriculture, carbon was absorbed into the soil and biomass into the earth and prevented from entering the earth’s atmosphere. Boeve says all of this can happen quickly; Because the necessary backgrounds and approvals have been prepared in advance and they only need to be implemented.
A state of emergency has been declared in some cities and countries. Some countries are reacting more seriously to this environmental crisis. But overall, the response of governments to the climate change crisis is not comparable to the Corona crisis; Because the climate change crisis does not immediately threaten the lives of the people, and if a serious decision is made in this regard, many large oil companies will suffer huge losses.
Boeve concludes by saying that prejudices and a desire to maintain the status quo are two factors that differentiate the climate change crisis from the Corona crisis. But with the efforts of environmental activists and advocates, he says, that trend will change and more and more fossil fuel companies will be in trouble. Finally, in the future, attention will be paid to the climate change crisis, such as the corona outbreak.
It seems that with the Corona crisis over, we will have to deal with another crisis in the future called climate change.
