Sustainability is a particular passion of mine and I could literally talk for hours on this, but I will spare you and try to be concise.
In the height of the pandemic ‘Anthropause’ made UK national news and for many this was a new word which means: the decline in human activity that has allowed nature to flourish. The evidence of environmental recovery is amazing and ranges from crystal clear waterways in Venice to dramatic air quality improvements across the world.
The graph below shows the weekly average concentrate of NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide) in the air in selected cities (Feb – Apr 2020). NO2 is mostly a result of burning fossil fuels for transportation and electricity generation so it should be no surprise that the lockdown periods improved our air quality.
But what does it look like 2 years on, have we really made a lasting impact? Should we go back to the travel frequency we enjoyed before Covid-19? Do we need to?
In an attempt to find a better balance between reopening to tourists and maintaining the improved quality of the Venice waterways and air quality, from January 2023, day visitors will be charged to enter the city.
In the packaging industry, we have seen innovative developments in bio-polymers in the drive to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. Embracing bio-fuels could reduce NO2 (generated from fossil fuels) – could this be more widely embraced but without impacting food stocks?
We are also seeing the need for accurate, live and quantifiable data to measure and improve packaging decisions, could this also be embraced across other industries? There are so many options however sadly, reality is that right now for many, sustainability is harder to achieve in the short term. Many have found themselves trying to adapt to a new normal whilst struggling to prioritise sustainability with the current impacts of food and energy price rises. Many have gone from sustainability focused to cash flow challenges and anything not deemed as critical for survival is seen as unnecessary.
Thankfully this is not the end of sustainability: the European Council is not abandoning its Green Deal for Europe principles. Stock of companies with strong ESG (environmental, social and governance) credentials have soared in periods of disruption.
If we are to meet the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global warming to 1.50C above pre-industrial levels by 2030 then we need to make significant changes. With the cultural shift we have seen, coupled with the environmental benefits, could saving our planet be a legacy of Covid-19?
As we see change happening all around us, I for one would be devastated to see pollution rise back to pre-Covid figures. If this pandemic does have a silver-lining then it has to be the fact that the earth has the ability to recover but only if we allow it to breathe. At the risk of sounding too dramatic, I believe our planet is worth saving and we should not let this unintended positive be a blip but instead a legacy beyond our lifetime.