We Should Not Aim to Return to Normal

Credit: Marcin Jozwiak on Unsplash By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana and Inger AndersenBANGKOK, Thailand, Jun 18 2020 (IPS) The world before COVID-19 looks very attractive right now. In light of the disease, mass unemployment and social distancing, a return to pre-pandemic normality seems appealing. Yet we should remember what normal was. Normal was obtaining 85 per cent of our energy fossil fuels and losing 7 million people a year to air pollution. Normal was careening toward a global temperature rise of over 3.5 C by the end of the century, with island nations facing obliteration. Normal was 1 in 8 species threatened with extinction, continued squeezing of wild spaces into smaller and smaller corners, and the rampant illegal trade in wildlife. Normal contributed to causing this pandemic We should also remember that COVID-19’s effects on health, jobs and economies are simply an acute version of what climate change is predicted to bring – and in places already has. Unless we aspire to a better normal with recovery, we are treating the symptom, not the disease. We must build back better than before. Many governments are preparing stimulus and relief packages to support COVID-19 recovery. Trillions of dollars will be ushered into the economy across Asia and the Pacific. These stimulus measures should help us achieve a better normal – a greener, more equitable normal. How? A recent survey of 230 economists in 53 countries suggests that green, climate-friendly stimulus measure...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Aid Asia-Pacific Climate Change Economy & Trade Environment Global Green Economy Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Labour TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news