The shock of the sudden onset coronavirus pandemic and the dreadful experience that the world is presently going through must laser-focus us all on the benefits of proactive action on climate change.
As the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are forcing changes in our ways of life and lifestyles, we must, with a sense of urgency, move from business as usual and confront the existential threat posed by the climate crisis head-on.
The extraordinary cooperation in the global response to the pandemic, evidenced amongst others, in China sending critical supplies to the United States, the US donating ventilators to Europe, and Cuban doctors being sent to Italy to treat patients must serve as a shining example for global action on climate change.
It is manifestly clear that the effects of the virus, just as those of climate change, are not circumscribed to national boundaries, and that solidarity, whether in the context of a climate crisis or a health pandemic is about our shared humanity.
As nations unveil trillions in stimulus packages to deal with the economic effects of the pandemic, environmental equity and environmental protection must be integral components to help build back better, and address the needs of millions of global citizens so vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
