COVID-19 Pandemic Lessons to Facilitate Future Engagement in the Global Climate Crisis

Contreras, Luis Eduardo Velazquez; Perkins, Krystal M.; Ellenbecker, Michael; Moure-Eraso, Rafael; Vega, Nora Elba Munguia

The COVID-19 pandemic was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in January 2020. Since then, 10 million cases and nearly 500,000 deaths have been reported globally. The sudden coronavirus global pandemic has also pointed to the importance of tackling the global climate crisis even more urgently. This article discusses six lessons drawn from the COVID-19 pandemic that can inform and facilitate greater future engagement in the global climate crisis. These lessons were identified through monitoring and analyzing media coverage of COVID-19 related events during the initial onset of COVID-19 in late January 2020 to June 30, 2020. The key lessons included the potentiality of reducing fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse emissions, the significance of responding late, a case for strong sustainability, the limits of rugged individualism, a (mis)trust in science, and the possibility of large-scale change. The insights put forward point to the fact that, like the COVID-19 pandemic, people need to continue to attach their health to expectations of government action in the context of the global climate crisis.