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Coronavirus: Lessons for Climate Action
The global spread of coronavirus continues to spiral out of control with rising rates of infections across multiple nations. At the time of writing, the virus has infected over 113,000 people across the globe and killed more than 4,000. The World Health Organisation believes that the threat of a pandemic “has become very real” although it could well be argued that we have already reached that point.
In addition to the thousands of personal tragedies and the panic instilled into millions of people, the virus has brought severe economic disruption. On Monday, the Dow Jones experienced its sharpest drop since the 2008 financial crisis as markets across the world entered panic-mode. Such market turbulence reflects the real-world economic impact of the virus. Last month, China, the so-called “workshop of the world”, ordered the closure of a large number of factories resulting in global shortages of goods ranging from mobile phones to medicines. What began in China has spread across the world and this has brought severe economic disruptions. We are already experiencing multiple manifestations of this: losses in stock markets, supply chain disruptions, and reduced demand for consumer goods.
This may only be just the beginning. Italy, which is now approaching 10,000 infected people, provides a glimpse of what is possibly in store for other nations. On…
