Giving Compass' Take:

• Damian Carrington explains how COVID-19 lockdowns have revealed a unique opportunity for a structural green recovery post-pandemic.

• The current impact of lockdowns is "negligible." Still, how can we learn from this moment to shift behavior for a green recovery post-pandemic? What will it take to make sure this sort of change doesn't marginalize certain communities?

• Read about how this green recovery post-pandemic also functions as a preventative measure for future viruses.

The draconian coronavirus lockdowns across the world have led to sharp drops in carbon emissions, but this will have “negligible” impact on the climate crisis, with global heating cut by just 0.01C by 2030, a study has found.

But the analysis also shows that putting the huge sums of post-COVID-19 government funding into a green recovery and shunning fossil fuels will give the world a good chance of keeping the rise in global temperatures below 1.5C.

“The direct effect of the pandemic-driven [lockdown] will be negligible,” said the researchers, whose analysis was led by Professor Piers Forster at the University of Leeds. “In contrast, with an economic recovery tilted towards green stimulus and reductions in fossil fuel investments, it is possible to avoid future warming of 0.3C by 2050.”

“It is now make or break for the 1.5C target,” Forster said. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to really change the direction of society. We do not have to go back to where we were, because times of crisis are also the time to change.”

Dr Jaise Kuriakose, at the University of Manchester and not involved in the study, said people’s activities had changed in previously unthinkable ways, with a stop to flying and a shift to virtual meetings.

“These suggest there is a public willingness for behavioral changes to a more sustainable and low-carbon lifestyle,” he said. “[But] to take advantage of this, structural changes and new policies are essential. Without a green recovery, it is even challenging to meet the UK government’s legislated net-zero target by 2050, let alone the ambitious Paris Agreement.”

Read the full article about a green recovery post-pandemic by Damian Carrington at YES! Magazine.