From promise to action: Sustainability at the heart of COVID-19 recovery – UN Environment

Climate change

Looking at climate change, problems are mounting globally. Forest fires, extreme heatwaves, devastating droughts and terrifying floods are commonplace in many too many countries. India alone has faced a series of crises: Northwest and Central India suffered severe heatwaves, swarms of desert locusts destroyed nearly 50,000 hectares of cropland and super cyclone Amphan battered the Eastern coast, causing an estimated 13 billion US dollars in damage and devastating the fragile Sunderban mangroves.

As we speak, devastating floods in Southern and Western India have displaced hundreds of thousands.

This is unfortunately only the beginning, for India and the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that global warming will reach 1.5C between 2030 and 2052, unless we dramatically step up action. The World Meteorological Organization and the UKs Met Office brought this timeline even closer home, with new climate predictions that point to a 20 per cent likelihood that one of the next five years will be 1.5C warmer than pre-industrial levels.

The temporary slowdown emissions during the pandemic lockdowns will have a negligible impact. We need large-scale, structural interventions that take the world permanently away from its addiction to fossil fuels.

Pollution

Finally, we have pollution and waste. Air pollution is the worlds single largest environmental health risk. Data from the WHO shows that9 out of 10 peoplebreathe air containing high levels of pollutants, and that around7 million people die every yearfrom exposure to polluted air.

In India, household and ambient air pollution is responsible for an estimate one million plus premature deaths and an enormous burden of disease and disability, concentrated disproportionately among the poor.

The common thread of consumption and production

These three crises are closely linked, and driven in large part by unsustainable production and consumption. The International Resource Panel has consistently reminded us that our relentless extraction of resources is devastating the natural world.

To address the triple crisis, we must reboot our way of life

Frankly, none of this information is revelatory. We already knew we had to change. But the impacts of COVID-19 the deaths, illnesses, economic damage and poverty have told us that we can delay no longer.

We must now and forever redefine the relationship between people and the earth. To do this, we must embed sustainability into COVID-19 economic recovery.

At this time most countries whose economies have been hit hard by the pandemic-induced economic slowdown look to revive the economy and create jobs after the pandemic. Such economic revival will be critical. But let me be clear. This economic jump-start cannot and must not be done at the expense of the environment. It is imperative for all countries, including India to not only meet their current commitments on plastic pollution, climate and land degradation but to increase and stretch these.

In this context, I also call on the government to look closely at the new draft Environmental Impact Assessment Notification 2020 to ensure it provides adequate safeguards across the full spectrum of environmental impacts.

Given that a single zoonotic outbreak can incur trillions of US dollars in costs across the globe, economic recovery focused on climate action and a healthy natural world is the best means of long-term prosperity. There are ample opportunities for governments to simultaneously address environmental objectives and ensure that recovery leads to more sustainable outcomes overall.

One Health investments crucial

Another important piece of work particularly for avoiding future pandemics is adopting integrated human, animal and environmental health expertise and policy. This is known as the One Health approach.

Conservation experts monitoring great apes, for instance, can be a valuable part of zoonotic disease surveillance in communities living nearby. Experts monitoring habitats also have a role to play. For example, in 2018, livestock experts working closely with healthcare professionals in Kenya detected Rift Valley fever and deployed livestock vaccinations and other interventions to contain its spread.

As we look at recovery from the current pandemic and how to avoid another, One Health strategies should be front and centre.

In this context, I warmly congratulate the Government of India for setting up a Steering Committee to advance thinking and action on issues at the interface of Environment and Health in India. This is a very forward looking initiative and more relevant than ever before.

Backing global processes for recovery

As I mentioned earlier, we have learned from the pandemic that promises and intent are not enough. We need action to implement our promises and we need to stretch our commitments so that we can provide for a better and more sustainable future. Therefore, nations must commit more strongly to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. The delay in the climate meeting gives nations the opportunity to adjust their Paris commitments upwards, with a focus on nature-based solutions.

Just as important is pulling out all the stops to define the post-2020 biodiversity framework. We need ambitious, clear and common targets for a nature-positive world. We need implementation support on financing, capacity development, transparency and accountability. We need buy in from sectors and groups, both public and private, that drive biodiversity loss: agriculture, infrastructure, public works, municipal planning and consumers.

The green economic recovery cannot succeed without the full engagement of the private sector

In particular, the private sector needs to be fully engaged. Business has a critical role to play as a source of finance, a driver of innovation, and an engine of economic growth and employment.

Businesses must realize they can no longer pollute their way to profit. Economy is environment, and environment is economy. To emphasize this, let me remind you of the World Economic Forums messages from earlier this year.

Industry leaders across sectors in India have made significant efforts at promoting clean and efficient energy, water and waste management, creation of green supply chains and promoting the concept of circular economy. We need such initiatives to become more broad-based and also spread to the medium, small and micro enterprise level.

India a key partner in sustainability

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In conclusion, we must use COVID-19 as a learning moment. It has shown humanity that our ill treatment of the planet has consequences. It has shown that the warnings of scientists can and do come true. It has shown that we must listen, plan and prevent.

My one note of caution is that we must be careful not to think that our ability to respond to a global pandemic is the same as our ability to respond to climate change or biodiversity loss.

With this pandemic we focus on improving enhanced treatments for those infected, increasing survival rates and on the development of a vaccine. The strategy is clearly to rely on human ingenuity and technology to help us out of the global pandemic tailspin.

But climate change will not be shooed away in one year or five. The carbon in our atmosphere, and the changes to global systems, will linger for decades. Once ecosystems have collapsed, we cannot coax them back into life in a matter of months. A future pandemic may be even more deadly and quick to spread, accelerating beyond our ability to respond.

Humanitys best bet is to minimize the risks and impacts of such crises by putting sustainability at the heart of COVID-19 recovery. New research on COVID-19 for example, suggests that a series of measures to protect the natural world and ecosystem services would cost a mere 2% of the post-COVID-19 recovery bill.

India is a major force in making this happen. It has 18 per cent of the worlds population and the highest numbers of aspiring youth. The countrys ongoing presidency of the Convention to Combat Desertification and the Convention on Migratory Species, along with its upcoming presidency of the G20 in 2022, is a tremendous opportunity for the country to steer global stewardship of the environment. As one of the biggest economies in the world, I fully expect to see India take up the leadership mantle on sustainability.

We at UNEP look forward to working with the Government of India and the Council, and our other partners in India to help the world make the right choices.

Thank you.

Inger Andersen

Executive Director

[i] Sanchit Waray, Sasmita Patnaik, and Abhishek Jain. 2018. Clean Energy Innovations to Boost Rural Incomes. Report. https://www.ceew.in/sites/default/files/CEEW_Clean_energy_innovations_to_boost_rural_incomes_15Oct18.pdf

(Peer reviewed by multiple independent national and international organisations)

[ii] Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). 2020. Climate and Business: Partnership of The Future CDP India Annual Report 2019. Report. January. https://bit.ly/33bbdWP

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From promise to action: Sustainability at the heart of COVID-19 recovery - UN Environment