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Addressing the Climate Crisis Through the Pandemic, by Fabienne de Cartier

Writer's picture: Bottom of the HeartBottom of the Heart

Updated: Oct 14, 2022

Opinion

Follow Fabienne on Instagram @fabienne.decartier


As the coronavirus sweeps across the planet, demanding the attention of the media and world leaders, countries try to mitigate the immediate and lasting impacts of the pandemic. But as the world focuses on the virus during these consequential times, it turns its attention away from a crisis that will be (arguably more) devastating to humanity in the near future.


Since its outbreak, various countries have put social distancing practices in place to protect us from the virus. Unfortunately, this means that many of the activities that were integral to the climate justice movement, such as rallies, climate research, school, and possibly the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow in November, are cancelled or have been severely limited. Long-term impacts on Canada’s climate change movement may also result as the Canadian government considers providing relief to the oil and gas sector. Furthermore, as Canadians dramatically reduce their travel, the demand for oil decreases, further dropping oil prices that were already plummeting due to the price war on oil between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Although supporting Canada’s oil and gas sector may be an important step in alleviating the impacts of the recession, it would be a move in the wrong direction for the planet. Will Canada hit their emission targets moving forward? It is possible the climate justice movement will lose all of the momentum it has been building in recent years.


However, we don’t have to go down that path. The parallels between these two crises are striking, and therefore, we have the opportunity to learn from the pandemic and strengthen the climate movement as we witness its pervasive and calamitous impacts.


One of the strongest similarities between our reaction to Covid-19 and climate change is our failure to listen to science, and our denial of the crisis’s legitimacy altogether. In a recent poll done for the Canadian Press, one in five Canadians believed covid-19 was blown out of proportion. Although this statistic represents a minority, even a minority of this size risks jeopardizing the safety of the rest of the population. What’s perhaps more dangerous is the incredible amount of misinformation that has been circulating social media, leading people to believe in inaccurate origins of the virus, false symptoms, tests, and cures, at times resulting in individuals accidentally taking their own lives while attempting to rid themselves of the virus. Similarly, in a 2018 study by the American Association for Public Opinion Research, 25% of Canadians believed climate change was a minor threat, while 9% believed it was not a threat at all. Our hesitance to respond in accordance with what science would suggest we do only worsens the situation until it is tremendously difficult, or even impossible, to resolve in the future.


Covid-19 and climate change are also most threatening to very similar vulnerable populations. For the most part, Canadians have been following government guidelines in order to protect our elderly neighbours, those with medical conditions, those who have difficulty accessing medical care, those with unstable or no employment and/or housing, and those with economic obstacles. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet seen collaborative action on the climate crisis on a big enough scale to prompt the necessary change to protect these vulnerable communities, as well as the world’s population at large. We have the opportunity to adopt this newfound sense of duty to support each other in terms of all national and global issues we face, including the climate crisis.


The coronavirus exemplifies the importance of collective action in times of crisis. Since its outbreak, President Trump has repeatedly referred to the virus as the “Chinese virus”, which is not only racist (even though he claims doing so was “not racist at all”), but promotes xenophobia and hate in the U.S. The term also attempts to blame others during a time when an efficient response to the crisis is critical. This phenomenon is also prevalent in the international response to climate change, where countries avoid responsibility and action by blaming others. As the Honourable Johnathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change wrote on Twitter last weekend, “let's remember how connected we all are, and that we must continue working together to get through the major challenges that we face. It’s by collective action that we will solve challenges like climate change and #COVID19”.


The death toll for covid-19 is 40 thousand lives and counting. Climate change is estimated to cause 250 thousand deaths per year from 2030 to 2050 according to the World Health Organization. Neither one can be ignored. Now is not the time to ignore one crisis for the sake of another, but time to rethink how we take care of each other and what action our government owes to us as a country. If the coronavirus crisis has proved anything, it’s that rapid and extensive changes are possible. If we can learn from the pandemic, it need not set back the climate movement, but can instead strengthen it as we move forward.


References:

Fagan, M., Huang, C. (2019). A look at how people around the world view climate change. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/18/a-look-at-how-people-around-the-world-view-climate-change/.


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