The World Health Organisation (WHO) supports that even if vaccines are found, COVID-19 may never go away. ‘Post-virus’ recovery mechanisms suddenly become out-of-place and obsolete. If we wait for the coronavirus crisis to be over to tackle climate change, then many of us may be swimming in deep waters. Coordinated and immediate actions, coupled with planetary-scale cooperation, to tackle both crises in parallel is now needed. For cities, this means adopting mechanisms that enable both economic recovery and sustainable transitions.
Most countries are gearing to lift lockdown restrictions due to COVID-19 and economic engines are slowly being warmed up. The economic impacts of the coronavirus have been brutal, and represented through record unemployment levels in many countries around the world. In the USA, Goldman Sachs predicts that the numbers may reach as high as 25%, rivalling the Great Depression of the 1920s. In subsequent reports, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) consistently warns that the situation is dire. For the UK, recent indicators support that for the latest comparative point, we need to go beyond the two world wars, all the way back to 1706 in a time when Queen Anne was on the throne.
The advent of the virus couldn’t have been predicted, and its impacts have underlined numerous concerns on not only our resilience, but also our lifestyle.
