COVID-19 stimulus should address health, economy and climate together

(EurActiv, 24 Mar 2020) Governments around the globe are quickly designing some of the biggest economic stimulus plan ever seen in peacetime in response to the COVD-19 pandemic. But while the health crisis has forced all concerned to take swift action, we are still moving too slowly when it comes to the climate crisis, writes María Mendiluce.

Dr María Mendiluce is the Interim CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition, a global nonprofit organisation working with the world’s most influential businesses to take action on climate change.

COVID-19 has changed our lives in ways that we never imagined. In just a few short months, the impact of this devastating virus has shut schools, offices, stores and factories. Airlines are grounded. Borders are closed. Many of us are quarantined at home.

Around the world, we are grappling with a radical change to the way we live our lives. It’s a challenge that people and families are coming to grips with, as are businesses both big and small, health systems and governments.

This is a collective effort that calls on everyone to play their part – whether it’s individuals shopping for an elderly neighbour, companies enabling employees to work from home, businesses switching manufacturing capacity to producing hand sanitiser, or governments putting aside party differences to agree on massive assistance measures that will help combat the effects of this world-wide pandemic.

As all of us adapt to the urgency of the situation, two things are becoming clear.

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EurActiv, 24 Mar 2020: COVID-19 stimulus should address health, economy and climate together