While many have pointed to the silver lining of a cleaner Earth due to the coronavirus pandemic, with declining pollution levels and lower emissions, it is important to understand that a lot more needs to be done to build a sustainable future on the planet.

The "coronavirus is good for climate change" narrative sends a bleak message that thriving economic activity is incompatible with reducing emissions. Rather, it’s an indication that post-coronavirus, the fight against climate change has to begin in earnest and without wasting any time.

There needs to be a realisation that just like coronavirus climate crisis is not a distant threat. When the lockdowns lift and life returns to a semblance of normalcy, so too will the pollution that clouds the skies and the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming.

This was supposed to be “a pivotal year” for the efforts to address climate change, as Antonio Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, said in a recent briefing.

Around 196 countries were expected to introduce revamped plans to meet the emission reduction goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, as the coronavirus pandemic continued apace, the UN on April 1 announced the postponement of the summit until sometime next year.

The casualties of COVID-19—which has now crossed quarter of a million—are not the only damage to human life and economic growth, the response to climate change, or lack thereof, is an equally potent threat.

Funds that would have been otherwise used to fight climate change are now routed to stave off coronavirus. Other international meetings related to climate—on biodiversity and oceans—have also been disrupted. While the need to mobilise governments to act on climate change has never been more urgent, the inability to gather world leaders to address the issue will make the fight harder.

Similarities between COVID-19 and climate change

Climate change and COVID-19 are two very different challenges, but they do have some things in common. Both are global—they do not respect national boundaries—and both require countries to work together to find solutions.

The global community has shown that it can act to address a crisis, with governments, businesses and individuals taking necessary measures and changing behaviours in response to the pandemic.

When humanity works together, even small personal actions—say, physical distancing—can make a big difference if done collectively, thereby helping us in overcoming huge challenges.

Younger generations are acutely aware of the looming disaster that climate change portends. They see it as immediate a threat as coronavirus. It’s high time they talk to the older generation about the kind of world we need to create once the pandemic is history.

However, the real impact of the coronavirus crisis on climate will ultimately be seen in the choices the governments make in shaping their economies in a post-coronavirus world—and, in particular, how their reliance on fossil fuels changes. Meeting the Paris Agreement’s central goal of limiting global warming will require reducing this reliance and that will just be the first step.

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