The Paris Agreement ambition is on its way to being achieved as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a major opportunity that has been seized in relation to “Building back greener.”
Building Back Better is an approach to post-disaster recovery. It reduces vulnerability to future disasters. It builds community resilience and it ensures that the sustainable safety for more resilient communities is the outcome of the recovery methods.
According to Scott and Locke (2020), carbon emissions tend to rise in post-crisis recovery periods. While governments begin to come up with recovery plans, there is the fear that they could push for short-term economic gains. This could potentially undermine climate goals and the crucial movement of production and consumption onto a path of decarbonisation. We are more aware of the need to focus on emissions from consumption in countries. Imported emissions account for 45% of the UK’s footprint although both production and consumption-based emissions have fallen over the last decade. The US consumes more emissions than it produces. According to Kretchmer (2020), there were satellite photos taken during the lockdown which showed how there was a dramatic fall in air pollution. The climate researchers from the University of East Anglia in the UK point out that there was an estimated 17% fall in global CO2 emissions at this time. It is vital that domestic economy recovery packages take consumption emission into account as well as territorial emissions. The movement towards an internationally agreed basis for reporting consumption emissions is an important step.
According to Kretchmer (2020), world leaders have been advised to consider prioritising a greener future after the Covid-19 pandemic. This pandemic lockdown has provided a glimpse into a clearer future. Countries are beginning to drive their economies towards green growth, with implementations such as the pedestrianisation of streets. Whiting (2020) also explores the idea of a greener future. IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath believes that the Covid-19 situation is the wake-up call that we need in order to shift to a greener economy. The public sector can help in getting to a more planet-friendly way of doing economic activity and to have climate-friendly infrastructure. According to Alessi (2020) there is a post-Covid-19 pandemic opportunity to shape its recovery. He discusses “The Great Reset” and how it will help to inform those who are determining the future state of global relations.
The pandemic is offering an opportunity to shape climate-friendly recovery packages in order to promote long-term sustainability. Recovery plans must be compatible with long-term sustainability. The Paris Agreement asks of governments that they make consistent finance flows and have a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. Due to the roads emptying and factories being closed, the air quality has dramatically improved in recent months. Emissions are estimated to be down 8%. This actually puts the world on track to achieve the Paris Agreement ambition of a maximum global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius if this reduction is to continue and be achieved over the next decade (Scott and Locke, 2020).
According to Whiting (2020), due to the economic fallout from Covid-19 dominating risk perceptions, there has been a glimpse of an opportunity to promote a more sustainable and resilient world. Greenpeace International’s Jennifer Morgan has said that companies have learned from the past and that they should now take the opportunity to create “a more circular zero-carbon economy for profit and for people.” She also stated that Government funds should be invested in people for long-term jobs. According to Alessi (2020), the Prince of Wales claimed that there was plenty that we can take away from the pandemic, stating, “There is a golden opportunity to seize something good from this crisis” and that global crises know no limits. He added the point that unless we decide to take action and build in a greener and sustainable way, then we will have to face many more pandemics.
References:
Alessi, C., 2020. HRH the Prince of Wales and other leaders on the Forum’s Great Reset. [online] World Economic Forum. Available at: <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/great-reset-launch-prince-charles-guterres-georgieva-burrow/> [Accessed 4 January 2022].
Kretchmer, H., 2020. Thousands of health professionals call on world leaders to prioritize a greener future, post-pandemic. [online] World Economic Forum. Available at: <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/thousands-of-health-professionals-call-on-world-leaders-to-prioritize-a-greener-future-post-pandemic/> [Accessed 4 January 2022].
Recoveryplatform.org. [online] Available at: <https://www.recoveryplatform.org/assets/tools_guidelines/GFDRR/Disaster%20Recovery%20Guidance%20Series-%20Building%20Back%20Better%20in%20Post-Disaster%20Recovery.pdf> [Accessed 4 January 2022].
Schwab, K., 2020. Now is the time for a ‘great reset’. [online] World Economic Forum. Available at: <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/> [Accessed 4 January 2022].
Scott, A. and Locke, A., 2020. How to build back greener in the Covid-19 recovery. [online] ODI: Think change. Available at: <https://odi.org/en/insights/how-to-build-back-greener-in-the-covid-19-recovery/> [Accessed 4 January 2022].
Sutcliffe, H., 2020. COVID-19: The 4 building blocks of the Great Reset. [online] World Economic Forum. Available at: <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/08/building-blocks-of-the-great-reset/> [Accessed 4 January 2022].
World Economic Forum. 2022. The Great Reset. [online] Available at: <https://www.weforum.org/focus/the-great-reset> [Accessed 4 January 2022].
Whiting, K., 2020. How the world can ‘reset’ itself after COVID-19 – according to these experts. [online] World Economic Forum. Available at: <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/covid19-great-reset-gita-gopinath-jennifer-morgan-sharan-burrow-climate/> [Accessed 4 January 2022].