Put Climate at the Heart of COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plans

By Pablo Vieira SamperWASHINGTON DC, Jun 29 2020 (IPS) Cast your mind back. Six months ago—it seems like a lifetime—the world’s attention was on Madrid. The United Nations was meeting to take stock of international progress in fighting climate change. Headlines were dominated by young people pointing out—rightly—that governments were still not doing enough. They demanded urgent and ambitious action to cut emissions and help the most vulnerable. Pablo Vieira SamperFast forward to today. A then-unheard-of disease has swept around the world, with a death toll of almost half a million and climbing. Whole societies have shut down. The world faces its deepest recession in a century. And cities across the West have exploded in protest against racial and economic injustice. At first glance it is hard to imagine a bleaker outlook for the climate action that our young people were demanding. The climate crisis has certainly not abated. Globally, last month was the hottest May ever recorded. The past decade was similarly the hottest in recorded history. This year was supposed to be a deadline for countries to produce more ambitious climate plans (known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs). Instead, governments are reeling in the face of twin economic and healthcare crises. What chance is there for bold climate action? But there is still cause for hope. As countries plan for economic recovery, governments have a major opportunity to drive investment in more efficie...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Climate Change Development & Aid Economy & Trade Environment Global Green Economy Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies TerraViva United Nations Trade & Investment Source Type: news