Coronavirus: How can travel be more sustainable post-pandemic?

"The coronavirus pandemic has been a global shock moment that has led to a rethink in the tourism industry, which is so accustomed to success," said Martin Balas of the Center for Sustainable Tourism (ZENAT) at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development.

‘Issues such as climate protection and overtourism, which were already major challenges for tourism before COVID, have now come into even sharper focus, Balas told DW. The German Travel Association (DRV) also sees the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity for more sustainability in the industry.

"Sustainable travel is a trend that has been around for years, and the travel industry has already responded to it and will continue to do so in the future," said Ellen Madeker of DRV. Several large travel companies are preparing awareness campaigns designed to increase travelers' awareness of the impacts of travel.’

Read here (DW, Mar 9, 2021)

Bill Gates: Solving Covid easy compared with climate

‘Fifty-one billion and zero - the two numbers Bill Gates says you need to know about climate. Solving climate change would be "the most amazing thing humanity has ever done", says the billionaire founder of Microsoft. By comparison, ending the pandemic is "very, very easy", he claims.

‘Mr Gates's new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, is a guide to tackling global warming. Don't underestimate the scale of the challenge, he told me when we spoke last week. "We've never made a transition like we're talking about doing in the next 30 years. There is no precedent for this."

‘Fifty-one billion is how many tonnes of greenhouse gases the world typically adds to the atmosphere each year. Zero is where we need to get to.’

Read here (BBC, Feb 15, 2021)

Post-Covid world discourse: Four fault lines

‘There is a plethora of published views, opinions and emerging evidence available on what the post-COVID world might look like. A broad consensus seems to exist regarding how things won’t – or can’t – go back to the way they were before. A ‘new normal’ will emerge resulting in a significant refashioning of the status quo, for economic agents as well as governance structures globally.

‘But a review of the opinions and outlooks out there so far suggests that there are a number of vital gaps that need to be brought forth if we are to ‘build back better’ and in an inclusive and sustainable way. These include:

1. Southern voices and local contexts are missing
2. Limited focus on long-term implications
3. Over-generalised perceptions about anticipated changes
4. Absent national level analysis of global trends’

Read here (On think tanks, Jan 11, 2021)

Pandemic, ‘Great Reset’ and resistance

‘The Covid pandemic is a turning point, an opportunity to change. The reset we need now is not the creation of a ‘post-human, post-nature’ world defined by unregulated corporate-led growth of artificial intelligence and biotechnology. We need to balance digitalization and commoditization with an ecological reset, a way of living that respects the environment, promotes agroecology, bioregionalism and local communities. We need to raise our consciousness and understanding of humanity as a species in nature, our connectedness to each other and the rest of planetary life.’

Read here (IPS News, Dec 1, 2020)

How Covid-19 will impact our cities in the long term

‘The biggest opportunity for cities from this pandemic is to build back better with the planned fiscal stimulus: more climate resilient infrastructure, green initiatives such as increasing public spaces, creating vehicle free streets, making bike lanes, refurbishing buildings to multiple uses and thereby doing more with less. This cannot be done by the public sector alone. Cities will need to attract private sector and social partners to close the financing gap. Good governance is an imperative to attract private financing and to work with the private sector.’

Read here (World Economic Forum, Nov 25, 2020)

Murdoch's misinformation: Covid-19, China and climate change

 ‘Is Rupert Murdoch's media empire responsible for spreading deadly misinformation on COVID-19? From the United States to Australia, Murdoch's media empire regularly courts controversy. Its coverage of COVID-19, however, is on another level. The Listening Post's Flo Phillips reports on the Murdoch factor in COVID-19 coverage.’

Also: ‘The Listening Post's Richard Gizbert speaks to someone who has known Rupert Murdoch for decades and is now one of his most outspoken critics: The former prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull.’

View here (Aljazeera, August 8, 2020)

Coronavirus is the practice run for schools. But soon comes climate change

‘By finding ways to continue learning through the pandemic, the education system will be better equipped for a future marked by severe weather emergencies... Schools are still scrambling simply to cope with the immediate coronavirus crisis and meet students’ basic needs, but the next school year could present opportunities to rethink how remote learning happens... One big step forward would be universal broadband access... Another is making sure teachers receive training on distance learning, through programs that prepare them for the profession as well as through ongoing professional development... Education systems will also have to adjust how they assess students and schools. Measures like seat time and attendance just won’t work the same way in a world facing so much disruption.’

Read here (Huffington Post, May 23, 2020)

Coronavirus doubters follow climate denial playbook

‘For the climate community, observing US national political leaders’ responses to the coronavirus pandemic has been like watching the climate crisis unfold on fast-forward. Many – particularly on the political right – have progressed through the same five stages of science denial in the face of both threats.’

Read here (Yale Climate Change Connection, April 14, 2020)

The analogy between Covid-19 and climate change is eerily precise

“We went through the stages of climate change denial in the matter of a week,” said Gordon Pennycook, a psychologist at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, who studies how misinformation spreads. Naomi Oreskes, a historian of science who has studied the origins of climate disinformation, spelled out the pattern in an email: “First, one denies the problem, then one denies its severity, and then one says it is too difficult or expensive to fix, and/or that the proposed solution threatens our freedom.”

Read here (Wired, March 25, 2020)

Economic growth is an unnecessary evil, Jacinda Ardern is right to deprioritise it

‘New guidance on policy suggests all new spending must advance one of five government priorities: improving mental health, reducing child poverty, addressing the inequalities faced by indigenous Maori and Pacific islands people, thriving in a digital age, and transitioning to a low-emission, sustainable economy.

‘Take a look at the biggest problems faced world-wide and you would be hard pushed to find examples that are more grave than the ones set out in Ardern’s provisional proposals. Rising inequality, a mental health crisis and climate change are all significant threats, but as long as other major economies prioritise economic growth over wellbeing New Zealand may become a lone wolf trapped in an increasingly hungry bear pit.’

Read here (The London Economic, May 31, 2019)