OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHANGE

Ryan P.

Sustainability Lead at Daikin New Zealand

Published May 19, 2020

"Life has been out on hold". We’ve hit the pause button. Soon we’re going to try to return to normal. But will we, or should we? Returning back to the lives we led before COVID means returning back to a society with high crime rates, homelessness and pollution. Do we want to go back or do we want to go forward?

The purpose of this series of articles is to investigate the changes that society has undergone in response to the coronavirus pandemic, touching on key topic areas such as psychological and moral implications for individuals and groups alike, prospects of economic growth and adaptation as well as government direction; whilst drawing comparisons from the response and actions to the climate crisis.

The global response to the pandemic provides a glimpse into the international community's capacity to deal with the climate change - our biggest and most complex international challenge of all. (BBC News, 14 May 2020)

While the coronavirus pandemic is giving us a glimpse of what life would look like with less air pollution, it’s also shedding more light on the scale of the climate crisis we all face. And though there are precious few certainties in the world right now, one thing is becoming clear: how we respond to the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis will have a huge impact on our ability to tackle the other great crisis of our lifetimes. (Matt Reynolds, 21 April 2020)

CHANGE

As social distancing rules were implemented - by individuals and then by government (moving into UK lockdown measures) - friends and families have become islands. There is no longer absolute freedom to do as one pleases, our lifestyles have become restricted and in turn our livelihoods have been altered; independence has become a necessity.

There are 3 key areas to social distancing/isolation that I would like to explore in detail throughout the course of this article.

Social isolation – the importance of family values.
Mental health – the role of loneliness.
Social networking and media

Social Isolation: Structure within society

Before lockdown was officially announced in the UK, many of us were already organising and adapting our lives in order to incorporate a working from home lifestyle and practicing social distancing for the safety of ourselves and our loved ones.

As our day-to-day lives have rolled into a state of lockdown, we have been forced to experience a different way of life, comparable to that of the elderly in our society. We are unable to leave our homes and have significantly reduced regular interaction and contact with those outside of our households. In 2019, Age UK recorded that a third of the UK population over the age of 65 live alone, and according to the NHS (2018) a million older people say they go for over a month without speaking to a friend, neighbour or family member.

Within England, the elderly have been considered and made to feel as ‘forgotten members of society’. The loneliness and lack of family support for the elderly within Britain is glaringly apparent in hospitals where, as Christie Watson (2018) mentions, nurses from various international backgrounds discuss the stark differences of the elderly patients in England, alone – compared to those from their home countries who are surrounded by family members every day.

“the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members” – Mahatma Ghandi

In a renowned TED Talk, Susan Pinker (2017) discusses the ‘village effect’ – where in villages in Sardinia, there is a great value associated to the elderly members of their society and they are never made to feel alone – the outcome of this is that 10 times as many men live past 100 than the global average. There are undeniable health benefits to being surrounded by people who you love and who love you. So will this time in lockdown encourage society to re-asses what is important in life, place greater value in building stronger family bonds and prioritise time spent with grandparents?

Social Isolation: Mental Health

Since before the pandemic, the government has recognised the importance of mental health in today's society, and the scale of the role loneliness plays in leading to and causing poor mental health.

In 2017, there was an average of 16 suicides per day in the country.

Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the United Kingdom.

These are alarming statistics (from ONS Govt 2017-18). The fact the government has started to take mental health more seriously is evident through appointments, roles and scheme such as Minister for Suicide Prevention and Mental Health and the creation of the country’s first Minister for Loneliness (Tracey Crouch 2018) through the Jo Cox Foundation; loneliness commission (2017).

There is a fundamental difference between living alone, and feeling alone; the latter of which is subjective – inherently we are a social animals who thrive off of relationships and connections with others (read Morality 2020 – where Jonathan Sacks makes a compelling argument for that the atomisation of society is responsible for the decline of community, the loss of trust, the rise of selfishness and an epidemic of loneliness). Being in isolation (though definitely the right thing to be doing at this moment in time) can have detrimental effects to our physical and mental health that we need to be aware of, and cautious to avoid. Solitary confinement can lead to increased stress, a heightened awareness of potential threats (an example would be the sensation many are feeling when going to food stores and being around groups of other people) can lead to a weakened physical state as well as mental.

Social Isolation: Our Future Networks

So, if loneliness is subjective, what changes can we make whilst in social isolation to ensure that those around us - physically, our neighbours and symbolically; our loved ones- aren’t left feeling so.

Living in the digital age, we have seen the rise of social media and its presence in our lives increase to such an extent that there is an abundance of software available to help connect with one another. There is plenty of research that points towards the superficial foundation of online friendships (Jennifer Chesak 9 January 2018, et al) but in a time of crisis such as now, we have the ability to reverse this dynamic and as we traverse the difficult times ahead. Perhaps society will learn to favour and value kindness towards strangers in order to rebuild a sense of belonging and community, in the face of austerity and fear.

CONCLUSIONS / OUR WILLINGNESS TO GROW

So, do we want to go ‘back to normal’, or do we want to proceed forward – and create a ‘new normal’?

Towards a cleaner future, where we have learnt valuable lessons from our time during the pandemic, a time where we recognised the importance of key workers – really started to respect and appreciate our health workers as well as the shelf stackers who were providing for us and helping put food on the table. A time where we yearned to be in the presence of our loved ones, for quality family time not to rush back to shops – realising that spending money on material items hasn’t come anywhere close to the joy we will feel when we are reunited again.

The long-term social, economic and environmental impacts of COVID-19 are as-yet uncertain. After any major disaster or upset, the global economy (and associated carbon emissions) often return to business-as-usual.

With foresight, the societal changes imposed during the coronavirus crisis could lead to more, longer-term behavioural change in the direction of sustainability, to the benefit of the climate movement. In the short-term, our efforts must be focussed on preventing the spread of this disease, particularly to the most vulnerable in society (Isabel Cook, 20 March 2020)

FORWARD

But even in the short term, the current dips in emissions aren’t necessarily a source of optimism.

Yes, they have shown that dramatic changes in our behaviour can cause a significant dip in emissions, but at what cost?

In the next article, I will be looking into what sustainable changes business and government could make (taking inspiration from the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, 2015) for the benefit of society and our climate, given the opportunities that the coronavirus pandemic has presented.