COVID-19 offers lessons on the challenge of tackling climate change
We can learn from the successes and failures of our COVID-19 responses
This Opinion piece was written by Brett Dolter, an assistant professor in economics at the University of Regina whose research is focused on climate and energy policy.
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COVID-19 has upturned society, stolen millions of lives and caused suffering for many more. It is not an exaggeration to say that everyone on the planet has been impacted by the pandemic.
Climate change poses a challenge of equal or greater magnitude. As government leaders gather at COP 26 in Glasgow to tackle climate change, here are lessons we can learn from the successes and failures of our COVID-19 responses.
It is important to listen to the experts
Our public health officials have advised us that COVID-19 is airborne and highly contagious. They have advised that vaccines are safe and effective. We have come to rely on their expert advice to keep us safe.
The climate scientists are also clear. As the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report summarizes, "It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land."
Scientific consensus has reached 99 to 100 per cent. The climate is changing, it is changing due to human greenhouse gas emissions, and the impacts are harming people and economies. In simple terms, it's real, it's us, and it's bad. Experts tell us we need to virtually eliminate greenhouse gas pollution by 2050 to avoid the worst impacts.
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An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
On COVID and climate, preventive action helps us avoid the worst outcomes and costs less than the alternative. Preventive action on the COVID-19 front includes wearing masks indoors, reducing our social interactions and getting vaccinated. Each of these actions helps to slow the spread. When we reduce COVID cases, we reduce the number of people hospitalized and dying from the disease, and we protect the capacity of our health-care system.
Preventive action on climate change means driving our emissions from burning coal, natural gas, gasoline and diesel down to zero as quickly as possible. I've used the analogy of a bathtub to describe how the level of heating depends on how much pollution builds up in the atmosphere (how much water is in the tub). Only when we turn off the taps and stop polluting will we stabilize climate and stop temperatures from rising further.
An ounce of prevention today is worth a pound of cure tomorrow.
Government action matters
Over the past 18 months we have seen that government laws and policies are critical to reducing COVID case numbers. Indoor masking laws help reduce the spread. A vaccine passport system encourages people to get vaccinated.
When we have a collective problem, we need a collective solution. Individual actions are not enough. That's why we have governments.
We need government to act on climate. We need laws that say emissions from electricity must be zero by 2035. We need laws that say car companies can no longer sell gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2035. We need laws that cap emissions from the oil and gas sector and bring those emissions down to zero by 2050. We need a price on pollution to ensure we have the incentives to develop new clean technologies.
Governments have the authority. They can use it.
The purpose of an economy is to provide well-being
Governments are often evaluated for how they deal with the economy. They are expected to create jobs and spur investment. But a healthy economy is a means to an end.
The goal of good government is to ensure the well-being of the population. Economic activity contributes to well-being by providing us with the goods and services we need, and employment can give us a sense of meaning and purpose.
When governments sacrifice health and well-being to increase economic activity, they are missing the point. They are so focused on the means, they've forgotten the goal.
When governments refuse to implement public health measures because they fear it will slow down economic activity, they have forgotten the goal. When governments fail to take climate action for the same reason, they are sacrificing the well-being of present and future generations.
Nature obey its own laws
COVID-19 doesn't care about economic indicators like GDP. It works to reproduce and spread and make people sick. Saskatchewan offers a case study in what happens when expert advice is ignored and preventive action is delayed. Our ICUs are overflowing, surgeries are being cancelled, organ transplants are being delayed and patients are being transferred out of province for health care.
These are the consequences of failing to listen to public health experts.
The climate doesn't care about GDP either. When we burn fossil fuels we pollute, and that pollution traps heat. The outcomes are increasingly dangerous for human health and well-being. Climate change promises powerful superstorms, flash floods, deadly heat waves, widespread wildfires that lead to poor air quality throughout the continent, and more frequent and more intense droughts.
Nature obeys the laws of physics, not the laws of demand and supply.
People have the power to make change
Why did we finally get preventive measures like indoor masking and a vaccine passport in Saskatchewan? Because doctors and nurses spoke up. Because people from all walks of life wrote letters to their MLAs demanding action.
Remember that while governments have authority, the people have the power. We can cause change if we use that power.
It is time to make our voices heard to ensure governments act on the climate emergency.
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