Sustainability Transformations and Covid | Umweltbundesamt

Sustainability Transformations and Covid

Blog article by Sandeep Kaur-Ghumaan

Over the past several decades, the global community was following a development model that seemed unsustainable. The adopted path of development led to consequences with a potential for serious impact on the environment, economies and societies. COVID-19 crisis precipitated the situation by transforming it from a dangerous regional health threat to an all-consuming global pandemic and economic disaster. It also holds potential for changes that could be quite devastating in the future. Since COVID-19 has affected all parts of the world, there is a pressing need for governments to coordinate and act in unison across regions and countries. To avoid the kind of crossroads at which we stand today, actions need to be taken. Global sustainability transformations are important for supporting response and recovery across international boundaries. For switching to alternative development paths, we need to bring about major changes in economic structures across markets.

The response to the COVID-19 crisis by different economies (both developed and developing) has raised serious questions about the existence and functioning of our societies and economies. This crisis has not only exposed the fault-lines in our societies but has also shown us that we need to rethink about how we live and behave as consumers. Though the long-term impact of the current crisis is not possible to predict at the moment, yet it is imperative to think in terms of sustainability transformations for the existence of healthy societies going forward. Furthermore, sustainable development endeavors by the respective governments are not possible without the support of its citizens. However, we need to ask ourselves as to what should be given importance or included while working towards sustainable development. Also, based on economies belonging to developed or developing countries there are several important issues that need to be dealt with. For example, the situation of the migrants worldwide, globalization, climate change, capitalism, focus on safe and healthy living, managing nature and its resources, developing an integrated-farming system, planning smart cities and villages, strengthening scientific research, developing effective technological applications, pro-active citizenry and so on. Among all the issues, ‘responsible/sustainable capitalism’ needs special attention as it is directly related to the sustainable practices that need to be followed for preserving humanity and our planet. The COVID-19 crisis has compelled the masses to stay at home -a direct outcome being expenditure reduction. With the extent of globalization that we see today, it is difficult to keep people away from consumerism. In a nutshell, capitalism after the pandemic will legitimately be challenged all over the world-now more than ever before. But the real question is - how can capitalism be made more responsive? 

There could be different approaches to it: one way could be country specific development planning approach for sustainable development. This could translate into (based on the similarity of situations on ground), a centralized approach in developed economies and a decentralized planning approach in developing economies. Moreover, for achieving this, concerted efforts need to be made by the governments, businesses and individuals at the global level. Countries with comparable economic standing need to deliberate and arrive at common action points. Similarly, emerging/developing markets need to find out a common ground. What the international community needs to understand and appreciate in all sincerity is the fact that like they say in this pandemic, ‘We Are All In This Together’, similar thought needs to go in the development models we adopt across the world. All of us heard the news of waste from certain countries in the West being dumped in South-East Asia. While this might be the act by a few private entities, the global economic/development model should not leave anything to imagination. We all need to work towards making our development sustainable. What is good for a country should not put the other countries – wherever they may be on the planet, in a tight-spot.  

The transportation systems around the world could be one example. In this case, the focus should be to shift to means of transport that are efficient by using fuels with low carbon emissions, along with significant use of public transport. Geographical distribution of activities will be required; even urban planning and development models would need to change. Consumption patterns will require significant shifts including changes in lifestyles and demography. Here again, we are talking about the distribution of population which would need to change. There is now acceptance of the fact that we need to bring about a shift to a more inclusive concept of governance, including cooperation between various levels of government, the private sector and civil society. The challenges we face on issues like climate change, economic development, energy, etc. requires the coming together of all stakeholders.

In my country India, we have a major problem of air and water pollution. Air and water flow without boundaries. To tackle the environmental problems in India, we need to think at the sub-continent level. There are challenges of traditional rivalries and a trust deficit. What the national governments in the sub-continent need to do is to arrive at common goals for achieving better environments. Waste discharge from factories, whether into water bodies or into the atmosphere needs to be addressed. A better living environment would also play a role in containing migration to the West.

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Author:
Sandeep Kaur-Ghumaan is a chemist from India working in the area of developing alternative renewable energy resources. She works as Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at University of Delhi. She has been a member of the Global Young Academy (GYA) since 2019 and is also a member of the ECR NoN-Future Earth Group.