Covid-19 and Climate

Both covid-19 and climate change are life-and-death crises on a global scale. How we prepared for (or not) and are dealing with the pandemic can help us better address the challenges of climate change. It can shows us our weaknesses and also our strengths.  Additionally, Covid-19 has upended the world as we know it, our relationships, our jobs, our communities and our economies.  As we rebuild, it is paramount that we keep the unfolding crisis of climate change in mind.  We need to rebuild our lives smartly. 

Below, we have gathered articles and podcasts that address the two global crises and discuss how we can use one to deal with the other.

The way the coronavirus disproportionately affects older people is the exact way the climate crisis disproportionately affects young people…My generation is giving up our youth — our schooling, our fun and our freedom — so that you can see next year. When this is over, you may have to keep giving something up so that we can see the next century.

– Jamie Margolin, climate activist, op-ed 3/26/20

A photo of Jamie Margolin

Climate activist and Zero Hour founder Jamie Margolin published an op-ed in the Washington Post on 3/26/20, “Politicians blew off Gen Z’s climate goals. The coronavirus shows we can act fast.”  She also wrote for Teen Vogue on 3/18/20, “Coronavirus Shows Us Rapid Global Response to Climate Change is Possible“.

an image of the globe as a corona virus

Howard Kunreuther and Paul Slovic write in Politico on 3/26/20, “What the Coronavirus Curve Teaches Us About Climate Change“. They write, “Aside from the coronavirus pandemic, the biggest, most destructive exponential growth processes that we must grapple with today are those associated with global climate change… As with the coronavirus, we need to anticipate the climate crisis and act quickly and aggressively to minimize further damages before they overwhelm us. “

Logo for The Hill
Physician Mona Sarfaty and former U.S. surgeon general Richard Carmona wrote and op-ed for The Hill in April, “COVID-19 and climate change: What can we learn about saving lives?”  In it they write, “COVID-19 and its lethal impacts are a wake-up call to pay attention to scientists’ warnings on climate change. The climate health emergency may not yet be upon us as visibly as COVID-19, but the need for action is just as urgent.”

The trio at Outrage and Optimism interview Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency in “Let’s Get Ethical with Dr. Fatih Birol (COVID and Climate #2)” on 4/3/20 and discuss “the importance of ethics-based stimulus packages”.  They also interview Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, “Solidarity and Self-Interest with Professor Joseph Stiglitz (COVID and Climate #3)” on 4/10/20. “They discuss the severity of the income inequality crisis, and Professor Stiglitz reveals to us that these stimulus packages being approved by national governments are proof that we have always been able to afford preventing climate change.”  In addition, you can read a short article on these topics in the New Scientist article by Outrage and Optimism speakers Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac — “Our approach to covid-19 can also help tackle climate change” from 4/1/20.