Coronavirus crisis: Lessons for the fight against climate change

Coronavirus is taking over the conversation – globally: Understandably at this time, that’s all anyone wants to talk about. These are some of the lessons I hope we're learning from the fight against the Coronavirus in order to tackle, with far more urgency, our existential climate change emergency. I've also translated the Coronavirus precautions into climate-speak.

1 Acting on science from experts is critical - a valuable message for the always surprisingly large anti-science crowd hovering around the climate crisis. Listen to the experts. As an important corollary, disregarding scientific evidence is, yes, criminal

2 Competent government is critically important in a crisis (think Singapore or Taiwan or South Korea, with their laser focus on the challenge from day one; the deployment of the full resources of the state; the superb transparency; and the open communication to the public at large)

2a Note Singapore are already preparing for the next pandemic. They were ready this time because they had learned the lessons from SARS. They will be ready next time because they are implementing lessons learned. Have you noticed they have zero deaths so far? May it stay that way

3 People having faith in the competence of government is just as critically important as having a competent government (also think Singapore and Taiwan and South Korea, and how in these countries, everyone is pretty much remaining calm pretty much throughout and following public health instructions more or less to the letter)

4 Early aggressive action is critical to minimize loss: Because of the Coronavirus tragedy, the importance of "bending" or "flattening the curve" is finally sinking in

5 Eating local, traveling less, working smarter, energy independence – all of these actions reduce emissions and increase sustainability

6 Society can mobilize instantly and globally. It's actually quite incredible how the world is fighting Coronavirus. Yes, we have weaknesses, mostly to do with incompetent governments, but the ability to act at speed is proven, again. Ergo we can mobilize, fight and beat climate change. One of the most amazing headlines of the past few days was "Germany lines up $600 billion virus aid as EU backs stimulus." That’s GERMANY we are talking about, the same country still handling coal with a kid’s glove (and you all remember Greece). Meanwhile, the US government apparently found $1.5 trillion just to inject into markets to combat the economic impact of Coronavirus. The money for scaling up climate action is evidently available.

I’ve also tried to translate the measures everyone is urged to take to slow down the Coronavirus into climate speak:

1 "Wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly and frequently." Translation: Abandon, as soon as you can, anything made with fossil fuels, especially single-use plastic

2 "Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, or cough into elbow." Translation: Be (and become) aware of fossil fuels everywhere

3 "Avoid close contact with people who are unwell." Translation: Divest from fossil fuels

4 "Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces." Translation: Drive electric, live electric, electrify everything

5 "Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are unclean." Translation: Live sustainably!

(Adapted from my 15 March 2020 Twitter thread)