Former UN environmental director Svein T veitdal supported the comments by a climate activist claiming that if we can “shut the world down” to battle coronavirus, “it means it is possible to do the same for climate change.”
Svein T veitdal, a former United Nations adviser to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and a UNEP division director, tweeted climate activist Jamie Margolin’s video where she silently declared: “If we can shut the world down to stop a virus, that also means it is possible to do the same for climate change.
Treat all emergencies like emergencies!”
If we can put the whole world on pause to stop the #coronavirus , then we can also do the same for #climatechange ! Treat all crises like crises! @jamiemargolin pic.twitter.com/LWGC8s4Wz4
— Svein Tveitdal (@tveitdal) March 17, 2020
Teen Vogue Op-Ed: ‘Coronavirus Response Should Be a Model for How We Address Climate Change’
Teen activist JAMIE MARGOLIN: “If we can shut the world down to stop a virus, that also means it is possible to do the same for climate change. Treat all emergencies like emergencies!”
Margolin in Teen Vogue: “The way the world has been able to mobilize itself and shut down in the blink of an eye to properly respond to the coronavirus is proof that political leaders actually do have the ability to make rapid change happen if they want. So where is that rapid response for the climate crisis?…
For years, climate justice activists like myself have been calling for immediate action on our climate emergency. And for years, that action has not taken place….Why have there not been coronavirus levels of shutting down and completely rewiring our society? Every time I meet with lawmakers and tell them that we need rapid transformation to halt climate change, they tell me “change that fast just isn’t possible.” But the COVID-19 world response has proven that rapid change and disruption of business as usual is possible! … What would it look like when the world actually decides to take on the climate crisis? It would look like what we’re seeing right now. Media coverage of the issue 24/7. Consistent headlines about updated death tolls. Experts appearing on the news daily to update the public on the crisis. Everyone stopping everything and putting the world on pause to deal with the immediate crisis at hand. … Pandemic response is simply trying to mitigate a disaster, while urgent climate response is not only mitigating disaster, but actively creating a better world.”
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Related Links:
MAG: What would happen if the world reacted to climate change like it’s reacting to the coronavirus?
More links:
Coronavirus May Neutralise Climate Hysteria For Now As Pandemic Threat Looms
EU official: Focus on coronavirus shows need for binding net zero climate law – Frans Timmermans, a European commission vice-president who leads on the climate emergency, said the different crises facing Europe underscored the need for a climate law in order not to lose track of reducing emissions. The long-awaited climate law unveiled on Wednesday is the centrepiece of the European Green Deal, a plan to transform Europe’s economy, promised by the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, within her first 100 days. “It will be our compass for the next 30 years and it will guide us every step as we build a sustainable new growth model,” Von der Leyen said announcing the law.
By Madhvi Ramani – The Week Magazine: Excerpts: “But where scientists and popular movements have thus far failed to convince the world to act, it seems that Mother Earth may have succeeded, with the never-before-seen COVID-19 virus…The novel coronavirus is estimated to have curbed carbon dioxide emissions in China by a quarter.”
“It’s not just air travel. People are canceling cruise trips after 3,711 passengers and crew members were quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess off the coast of Japan due to the virus. Another win for the environment, since people on a seven-day cruise produce roughly the same carbon footprint as they would during 18 days on land…”
“The current epidemic shows us that we are completely unprepared to deal with future outbreaks of diseases that will occur as a result of climate change. Not only will climate change increase the number of diseases passed from animals to humans due to changing boundaries of habitats and decreased biodiversity, but the melting ice and permafrost are releasing long dormant bacteria and viruses, like anthrax. The novel coronavirus has sent alarm bells ringing throughout the world. It’s time for us to wake up, listen to the primordial Earth goddess Gaia, and act.”
Climate activist Astrophysicist & Philosopher Martín López Corredoira on coronavirus and its impacts: “Neither Greenpeace, nor Greta Thunberg, nor any other individual or collective organization have achieved so much in favor of the health of the planet in such a short time.”
“There are also positive aspects. As said by the proverb, every cloud has a silver lining…We see a reduced production in Chinese industry, which has resulted in a huge drop in China’s pollution.”
Venice…is now deathly silent. What a respite for the Venetians! What good news for the ecologists and tourist-haters! This positively affects the reduction of CO2 emission and the whole wave the destruction associated with holiday and professional conference tourism…It is certainly not very good for the economy in general, but it is fantastic for the environment.”
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Will Coronavirus Recession Kill Green Craze That Has Infected Board Rooms In Recent Years?
Former UN Climate Chief Christiana Figueres: Slower economic growth from coronavirus ‘may be good for climate’ – ‘There is less trade, less travel, less commerce’ – Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked former UN chief Figueres: “Is there any sense that this could be self-controlling — that as we see economic growth possibly slowing down around the world, because of coronavirus — that’s actually good for the climate?”
Christiana Figueres replied: “Well, that is, ironically, of course, the other side of this — right? It may be good for climate. But I think — because there is less trade, there’s less travel, there’s less commerce.”
Weaponizing Coronavirus: Figueres also said: Expect more disease outbreaks ‘if we continue to deny, delude and delay on climate change’
Figueres also used the coronavirus as an opportunity to plug the UN’s campaign to reduce and stop meat-eating around the world. “If we continue to eat animals, we will actually be poisoning ourselves and being the genesis new diseases that we have not seen before,” Figueres explained. [See:‘Food Police’ –UN Meat report: UN seeks ‘massive expansion of the UN’s regulatory power…lifestyle controls’]
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The Week mag touts impact of coronavirus as a ‘win for the environment’ – ‘A significant reduction of…carbon footprints’
Climate Campaign ‘At Risk of Stalling’ — Loses Momentum As World Fights Coronavirus
Former Harvard U. Prof. Rips Coronavirus response: ‘The enthusiasm with which the West commits suicide is staggering’ – Dr. Lubos Motl: “The economic and otherwise societal losses will be exponentially larger than the damages to the public health. I would even argue that that the economic damages that have already taken place are larger than even the worst case scenario damages to health and lives that could materialize in a hypothetical future.” …
“Yes, even the desire “not to have a new Great Depression” has turned into a “fringe” political opinion, according to the number of prominent advocates There’s really a near consensus among the pundits in the West that we must commit the economic suicide as a civilization.”
Harvard U. environmental ‘expert’ links coronavirus to ‘climate change’
Reporter Questions: “Did habitat loss, driven in part by climate change, make it easier for pathogens to spread among wildlife and for the virus to jump to humans?
We asked him about the ways that climate change might have played a role in the emergence of COVID-19, about any parallels between “virus denial” and climate denial
Dr. Aaron Bernstein, a pediatrician and Interim Director of The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Excerpt: “We have transformed life on Earth. We are having a massive effect on how the relationships between all life on Earth operate and also with ourselves. We shouldn’t be surprised that these emerging diseases pop up.” … “Climate change is a destabilizing force when it comes to the spread of infection through several potential pathways.” … “Climate is a part of what is fundamentally reshaping our relationship with the natural world.”
Four Lessons From A Century of Pandemics
LA Times Op-Ed happy to see global economy shut down for benefit of climate: ‘We must embrace a world that the coronavirus, perversely, is laying out for us’ – Christopher Ketcham in LA Times: ‘The coronavirus may finally cause us to see air travel for what it is, a fuse burning in the climate’ bomb.
“As it happens, a lot less flying is required if we are to stabilize a non-nightmarish planetary climate for our children, our grandchildren and their children.
The spread of the novel coronavirus comes in the wake of an unvarnished report on how to ameliorate climate change that was commissioned by the United Kingdom and published in November. Called “Absolute Zero,” the report, drafted by a group of scientists from the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Nottingham, Bath and the Imperial College London, advised how Britain could reach its stated target of zero emissions by 2050.
Among their conclusions: Because at present and for the foreseeable future there is no carbon-neutral alternative for the powering of planes, all air travel in the U.K. will have to decline precipitously by 2030 — 10 years from now — and cease altogether by 2050. “For some period,” the report says, “we’ll all stop using aeroplanes.”
What’s true for Britain, of course, has to be true globally — an end to air travel as we know it if the planet is to keep within the putatively safe carbon budget that holds warming to 1.5 degrees Centigrade. And one can read that conclusion another way: Present-day rates of carbon-intensive travel and tourism are among the many time bombs that industrial society has set to destroy future generations…
We have to start thinking now — right now, today, as you read this — about a livable, equitable future for our children, and for that future to be realized we must embrace a world that the coronavirus, perversely, is laying out for us. It is a world of less travel, less consumption, one not pathogen-determined but instead created by our own collective self-restraint, humility and altruism. If we learn from the coronavirus, generations to come will thank us.
Professor: Why coronavirus is eclipsing Greta Thunberg on climate – ‘Producing results that are arguably more important, immediate and effective’ – Greta Thunberg’s statements and actions are a constant reminder of climate change and the need for rapid mitigation and adaptation. We can identify the ‘Thunberg effect’ and the impact that this has had on the growth in carbon offsetting. Nevertheless, the Thunberg effect has had an as yet relatively small impact on climate change…
We can label this the ‘COVID-19 effect’. In contrast with the Thunberg effect, it is producing results that are arguably more important, immediate and effective.
‘There are climate lessons in the response to the virus.”
The drop in emissions could end up being just a blip that contributes to other problems, said Samantha Gross, a fellow at the Brookings Institution. One of those problems is that falling costs of oil and other fossil fuels could discourage investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy, and could encourage people to use more oil and gas.
“I actually worry about environmentalists getting too happy and worked up about the fact that emissions are going down, because this is really not the way you want to decrease emissions,” she said.
Coronavirus Is Slowing Climate Change Research In The Arctic
NYT: Social Distancing? You Might Be Fighting Climate Change, Too – The ‘benefit of a reduced carbon footprint’ – “Any time you can avoid getting on a plane, getting in a car or eating animal products, that’s a substantial climate savings.” Many people trying to avoid the coronavirus are already two-thirds of the way there.
Watch: Morano on TV: Coronavirus hysteria is the future environmentalists want: – The Ezra Levant’s Show – Morano: ‘If you like life under coronavirus fears and government action, then you’ll love life under the climate agenda.’
Coronavirus poses threat to ‘climate action’ — ‘unless governments use green investments’ – Fatih Birol, IEA’s executive director, has warned the outbreak could spell a slowdown in the world’s clean energy transition unless governments use green investments to help support economic growth through the global slowdown.
“There is nothing to celebrate in a likely decline in emissions driven by economic crisis because in the absence of the right policies and structural measures this decline will not be sustainable,” he said. …
“We should not allow today’s crisis to compromise the clean energy transition,” Birol said. He said global governments should use the economic stimulus packages which are being planned to help countries weather the downturn to invest in clean energy technologies.
He added: “We have an important window of opportunity. Major economies around the world are preparing stimulus packages. A well designed stimulus package could offer economic benefits and facilitate a turnover of energy capital which have huge benefits for the clean energy transition.”
Former Obama climate adviser warns: ‘Unless coronavirus is quickly contained, another casualty will be much-needed climate action in 2020’ – “Unless coronavirus is quickly contained, another casualty will be much-needed climate action in 2020.” – KELLY SIMS GALLAGHER – Former Obama administration senior policy adviser in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy & senior China adviser in the Special Envoy for Climate Change office at the U.S. State Department.
Warmist at Grist Mag laments: ‘Coronavirus: The worst way to drive down emissions’ – ‘You can’t save a world by destroying it’ – Grist Mag: “Moreover, in times of global stress, green projects often take a back burner to more pressing issues. Distracted by the problem at hand, governments funnel political attention and subsidies into the pandemic or the economic meltdown. The environment gets short shrift…
These respites from fossil fuel pollution aren’t actually “good for” the climate. For one thing, they rarely last…
So, even if a Thanos-style reckoning might sound nice when you are depressed by species extinction, melting polar ice, etc., you can’t save a world by destroying it.”
NYT’s ‘climate correspondent’ features professor claiming coronavirus is ‘climate change on warp speed’ – Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at New York University, called the virus “climate change on warp speed.”
Why have we not taken climate risks to heart? Politics and psychology play a role. Change is hard when there’s a powerful industry blocking it. The fossil fuel industry has pushed climate science denial into the public consciousness.
Climate activists: Coronavirus response needs to be ‘a Global Green New Deal’ to ‘decarbonize the global economy as fast as is feasibly possible’ – Open Democracy: “Once the outbreak subsides, attention will inevitably turn to how the global economy can be rebooted. Before we rush to reinstate ‘business as usual’, we should pause to consider the impact this might have on human and environmental health…governments could forge a different path by unleashing a vast program of investment to decarbonize the global economy as fast as is feasibly possible and bring our environmental footprint within fair and sustainable limits. The effect would be to mobilize resources to transform our energy, transport, housing, and agriculture sectors, decarbonize production and consumption, and restore our natural ecosystems.”
“In 2008 we bailed out the banks – this time we should bail out the planet. This plan has a name: a Global Green New Deal. In the face of a growing environmental emergency, it’s the only game in town. We simply cannot afford a return to business a usual.”
Democrats don’t want to waste coronavirus panic: Sen. Whitehouse wants climate ‘menu’ included in economic aid package: ‘We’d want a price on carbon’ – Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. The Rhode Island Democrat said airlines, in particular, must do more to address their carbon footprint in return for federal financial assistance…”If they want to bail out the airline industry, then the airline industry better damn well be ready to clean up its act in terms of carbon emissions offsets,” Whitehouse said. “It can be done, they can do it, and the taxpayer should make sure they’re performing it.”
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Whitehouse said he would seek to include carbon offsets as part of any stimulus for carbon-intensive industries. Another potential ask: a “menu” of other climate actions, such as tax incentives for clean energy. “There would be a menu: We’d probably want a tax extender; we’d want a price on carbon; we’d have a long, long list — and don’t even get me started on the cruise ships,” Whitehouse said.
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Greta Thunberg says climate protests should go online to reduce coronavirus risk
MAG: What would happen if the world reacted to climate change like it’s reacting to the coronavirus? – Fast Company Mag: “We’ve seen that governments can act, and people can change their behavior, in a very short amount of time,” says May Boeve, executive director of the climate advocacy group 350.org. “And that’s exactly what the climate movement has been asking governments and people to do for years in the face of a different kind of threat—the climate crisis—and we don’t see commensurate action. On the one hand, it shows that it’s possible to do this, and it’s possible for this kind of mobilization of resources to take place in a short amount of time. In that sense, that’s encouraging. But we were never in doubt of that aspect.” Instead, she says, it was a question of whether there was political will for rapid change.
Time Mag. cites ‘worried experts’ who fear Coronavirus ‘has the potential to totally derail climate talks’ – ‘Could derail the UN Paris Agreement’ – Time Mag.: How Coronavirus Could Set Back the Fight Against Climate Change
“This year was supposed to be a big one in the international fight against climate change. But the fast spreading new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, is posing a triple-threat to action that could derail the Paris Agreement effort to combat global warming, worried experts say… it may encourage burning fossil fuels in hopes of restarting the global economy…
“As international travel has ground to a halt, the important work of climate diplomacy has suffered as in-person meetings have become impossible and a series of important conferences have been canceled, from the World Oceans Summit in Japan to CERAWeek, perhaps the most important energy conference, in Houston. The United Nations’ climate body has called off all meetings through the end of April, citing health and safety of attendees as well as the inability to muster a quorum…The cancellation of meetings may sound dull, but it has the potential to totally derail climate talks at a delicate time.”
Coronavirus is curbing carbon dioxide emissions: ‘Falls in economic activity will reduce greenhouse gas emissions’ – The disease is temporarily reducing carbon emissions in China and elsewhere as many factories remain shuttered and fuel consumption goes down.
“The most immediate impact of coronavirus is falls in economic activity, which will reduce greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions,” Faith Ward, chief responsible investment officer at Brunel Pension Partnership, told Al Jazeera.
Excerpt: “The Coronavirus has become both the biggest threat to businesses and potentially the most consequential factor in reducing emissions in the short-term. China, the first country to suffer from the Coronavirus, has already seen greenhouse gas emissions fall by 25% in recent weeks as industrial installations have shut down…
The International Energy Agency predicts that oil demand will fall at least to levels not seen since the 2009 economic crisis, as economic activity slows across the world. Air travel, the fastest-growing source of emissions, has fallen off a cliff, with Lufthansa’s recent statement that it is halting 50% of flights sparking major concern for the aviation industry…
It may be that future generations look back at Coronavirus as the turning point in global efforts to fight climate change. And they may ask, “what was the Green Deal?”.
EU official exploits coronavirus to push awful climate change legislation
