In this post, Professor Murat Arsel discusses the similarities and differences in the approach to the Covid 19 crisis and the climate crisis. What lessons can we learn from how the world has reacted to the coronavirus?
He argues that COVID-19 and climate change bear striking – and worrying – similarities and differences. Both are characterized by high uncertainty, but while COVID-19 has been identified as an immediate threat and action has been taken despite the absence of comprehensive knowledge, uncertainty has been touted as impeding concerted efforts to transform energy systems to combat climate change.
The global economic system has strongly contributed to our failure to make radical changes. A different system – one that is not so fundamentally focused on maximizing profits over all other concerns – could have been better placed to make the undeniably painful economic adjustments we are forced to make, both before the emergence of COVID-19 and to prevent a catastrophe arising due to climate change.
Read the full post - Lessons from the Covid-19 crisis for climate change politics
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