'No one can self-isolate from climate change'; UK, French c.banks urge action

(Reuters, 5 Jun 2020) Countries are far from meeting climate goals and the coronavirus pandemic shows that reacting to a crisis at its height brings huge costs, write bank governors.

Governments must rebuild their economies after the coronavirus crisis to withstand the next shock heading their way - climate change, the central bank governors of Britain and France have said.

"Unless we act now, the climate crisis will be tomorrow's central scenario and, unlike COVID-19, no one will be able to self-isolate from it," Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and his French counterpart, François Villeroy de Galhau, wrote in a joint article published in the Guardian newspaper.

They said countries around the world were far from meeting their climate goals and the coronavirus pandemic had shown that reacting to a crisis at its height brought huge costs.

"To address climate breakdown, we can instead take decisions now that reduce emissions in a less disruptive manner. That requires us to be strategic. To build back better," they said.

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Reuters, 5 Jun 2020: 'No one can self-isolate from climate change'; UK, French c.banks urge action