Has The Pandemic Helped Save The Environment?

By Rebecca Shields

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Earlier in the year, there were reports of clear canals in Venice, smog disappearing in Beijing and the Himalayas becoming visible in the distance for residents of Northern India. We were going through the largest fall in CO2 emissions the world has ever seen. For many this was a sign that a positive side-effect to the Covid-19 pandemic was occurring, our environment was getting some time to repair. However recent studies have shown that this short respite for our planet is fleeting and we now must ask, did the global pandemic really help our environment?

The easiest way for us to measure this is through carbon emissions. Recent history is marked with global events directly affecting the world’s carbon emission levels. After World War II ended, there was a drop of 800 million tonnes of carbon emissions. Since then, it has not been war but global recessions which have hit carbon emissions the most. There were decreases in carbon emissions throughout the 1980s during the recession (1 billion tonnes) and again during the financial crash of 2008-2009 when carbon emissions fell by around 450 million tonnes. Currently, the global pandemic has seen a decrease of 8.8% of carbon emissions.

You may be thinking this sounds positive and combined with various countries pledging zero carbon emissions within the next 30 years that we are on track to a better future. Whilst these initial numbers are promising, the world has a consistent pattern of lowering carbon emissions after significant global events and then increasing carbon emissions within 1-2 years after the event. In 2010, one year into recovery after the global recession, there was an increase of 6% in carbon emissions. Although there has been a huge fall in the global CO2 levels this year until net-zero is reached the planet’s atmosphere will not stabilise. Carbon emissions have increased global temperatures by over 1C since the 1850s, by the end of this century scientists predict this will rise a further 3C to 4C.

If we know carbon emissions are so damaging why are we passing by this opportunity to decrease them permanently? As usual, the answer is money. By May this year countries in a later stage of recovery were already back to pre-coronavirus levels of production and therefore pollution levels. China is an example of this. They were the first country to encounter economic issues due to the pandemic. Noticeably their coal uses dramatically shrunk however with new coal-fired power plants being built throughout the provinces they are recovering and are expected to end the year with coal consumption being down by only 1%.

It is not just China, in Brazil, illegal loggers have continued to burn down large areas of the Amazon rainforest. Satellite data captured by the space research agency INPE found 64% more of the Amazon was destroyed in April 2020 compared to April 2019. Even countries whose CO2 levels are decreasing vary dramatically. France saw CO2 levels in Paris decrease by 72% in March however in the US, New York CO2 levels decreased by only 10% in the same time frame.

Although these numbers differ significantly, they are encouraging. Whilst we may not see a permanent change in CO2 levels there are other areas concerning sustainability which look optimistic. Even though some countries coal consumption is set to increase, the global use of coal is likely to decrease by 8%. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported full lockdowns have reduced global electricity demands down by over 20%. For context, 20% of the world’s energy is the equivalent of the entirety of India’s electricity consumption. Overall, the need for electricity is predicted to reduce by 5%. Unlike carbon emissions, this result looks set to continue post-pandemic.

Back to the original question, has the pandemic helped save the environment? The answer would appear to be no however it has shown us that reducing CO2 levels is possible and by dramatic amounts. We have seen that it can be done, we just have to ensure we continue to do so.

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