Future shock: COVID-19 failures show need to prep for climate threats

(Reuters, 21 May 2020) Climate change will bring a 'more intense form' of the problems seen with coronavirus - and now is the time to prepare, security officials say

From collapsing supply chains to power grabs by populist leaders, the coronavirus pandemic has revealed how a crisis can swiftly ramp up wider security risks - a clear warning as climate change looms large, security experts warned on Thursday.

"These threats can have massive implications beyond what we've ever planned for," said Kate Guy, a senior research fellow at the Center for Climate and Security, a U.S.-based think-tank.

As leaders scramble to learn lessons from the COVID-19 crisis, they also need to think ahead to climate risks, which are "the next big thing - the longer-term, more intense form of this (coronavirus) crisis", she told an online event.

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Reuters, 21 May 2020: Future shock: COVID-19 failures show need to prep for climate threats