The Opportunity In Acting, The Risk In Delaying

Delay is deadly: what Covid-19 tells us about tackling the climate crisis; Rightwing governments have denied the problem and been slow to act. With coronavirus and the climate, this costs lives

Jonathan Watts, 24 March 2020 (UK Guardian)

“…Like global warming, but in close-up and fast-forward, the Covid-19 outbreak shows how lives are lost or saved depending on a government’s propensity to acknowledge risk, act rapidly to contain it, and share the consequences…Governments willing to intervene have been more effective at stemming the virus than laissez-faire capitalists…International comparisons suggest this could be making infection and death rates steeper…[Delayed responses in the U.S. response, Brazil, and the resulted in sharply rising cases and daily deaths but where more interventionist governments in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand] have acted more quickly and shared the burden of risk more widely and flattened the coronavirus curve…This pandemic has amplified the importance of assessing and controlling risk before it gets out of hand…

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No leader can deny the science, nor can they endlessly delay action as they have done on global heating… If state intervention and scientific advice is effective in dealing with the virus, the same principles should be applied more aggressively towards the still more apocalyptic threats of climate disruption…The pandemic has proved that delays are deadly and expensive…Our conception of what is “normal” will have to change…First though, we need to accept – and share – risk. Instead of deferring risks to future generations, weaker populations and natural systems, governments need to transform risks into responsibilities we all bear. The longer we hesitate, the fewer resources we will have at our disposal, and the more risk we will have to divide.” click here for more

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