Coronavirus and climate change

By Wimar Witoelar

California could be Sumatra were it not for some important differences. They both are live examples of coronavirus and climate change. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the fragility of priorities . Governments have sought to limit the spread of the virus through lockdowns and travel restrictions, which have stalled economies and created recession. This has spurred the confusion of priorities.

With shifting weather patterns and loss of intact ecosystems and biodiversity, COVID-19 is a threat multiplier. Just as policymakers address the short-term effects of greenhouse gases and fossil fuels, governments have scrambled to address the immediate health and economic consequences of the virus, while overlooking broader security risks.

Since the start of 2020, wildfires in California have burned over 3.2 million acres of land. Nearly 16,500 firefighters have been battling 28 major wildfires in the state, which have left 24 people dead and over 4,200 structures destroyed. For those who have avoided the flames, smoke from the fires has choked the air and kept people inside. The continued risk of future fires has forced partial power shutoffs for thousands of California residents.

Both Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti have attributed the severity of this season's fires to climate change, pushing back on President Donald Trump's statement that the fires were due to poor land management. "Denial doesn't work when it comes to climate," Garcetti told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "The cost of denial is that people lose their lives and their livelihoods."

The ominous consequences don’t stop there. As with climate change, the pandemic’s destruction of livelihoods will reduce the opportunity costs of resorting to violence or may even create economic incentives to heighten the risk of conflict. The potential for violence is especially high in fragmented political systems, within communities that have a history of conflict, and among the politically marginalized. Governments’ irresponsible handling of the COVID-19 crisis, strains relations with citizens and lead to increased public concern and dissatisfaction. It would not be surprising for tensions to culminate in civil unrest on a broader level, given situations where food and water shortages, triggered by the state’s failure to adapt to climate-related setbacks, have fueled social upheaval.  There is also a serious risk that official mismanagement of the public-health crisis will marginalize populations even more and increase tensions along geographical, ethnic, or sectarian lines. Likewise, people nursing grievances against their governments may exploit the pandemic to undermine the state’s authority. As with climate change, political elites aiming to mobilize support or conceal shortcomings can manipulate the crisis by scapegoating, which may cause more severe forms of violence.

 That includes pursuing rapid, far-reaching, and unprecedented changes to limit global warming and strengthen our collective response to the threats it poses. The world may now be more receptive to such reforms. We have no choice. While we may be able to manage the COVID-19 pandemic with social distancing, new antiviral drugs, and eventually, one hopes, a vaccine, climate change represents an even larger existential threat, because its effects have no defined treatment or lifespan.  There may be a reset button for the post-pandemic global economy, but there is none for the planet on which it depends.

AFP notes that The Prince of Wales will warn the climate crisis is "rapidly becoming a comprehensive catastrophe that will dwarf the impact of the coronavirus pandemic."

The stark message is part of a keynote speech that Prince Charles has recorded for the opening event of a virtual climate summit starting on Monday.

In his speech, he will say: "Without swift and immediate action, at an unprecedented pace and scale, we will miss the window of opportunity to 'reset' for... a more sustainable and inclusive future." In other words, the global pandemic is a wake-up call we cannot ignore that the environmental crisis has been with us for far too many years - decried, denigrated and denied. It is now rapidly becoming a comprehensive catastrophe that will dwarf the impact of the coronavirus pandemic."

Like California, Sumatra calls for an integrated strategy in coordinating programs in the environment including sustainability and energy.