2020 has by all metrics been the worst year in living memory, civil unrest, record temperature (yet again), devastating wildfires around the world, diplomacy tested against bigotry and hate, and of course SARS COV 2 - Corona Virus.
The lockdowns imposed through Corona Virus have significantly lowered our global emissions for 2020. With people mostly confined to home environments though Covid enforced lockdowns, passenger transport was essentially paralysed (~40%), power production (22%) and industry emission (17%) saw emission reductions. Globally, there was a reduction of 8.8% CO2 (roughly the weight of Uluru) in the first six months of 2020 as compared to the same period in 2019. While this is the largest reduction in history, it may not seem like much. It’s worth noting that a number of emission factors remained uncompromised. Globally transport accounts for ~20% of emission – so yes, a large chunk is that number – but Electricity and heating account for %40 and Manufacturing, construction, and other industries account for a further 20% of emissions (Osaka 2020), much of which didn’t decrease significantly. However, as restrictions were lifted, these levels have since returned to pre-Covid levels (Liu Z, et al 2020). So while there may be a sense of the -mostly – collective actions of communities (not) coming together to safeguard one another having paved the way for a conscious effort of building back better or getting the world going again but this time with greater resilience, this vision still has a long way to go.
Business leaders were likely among those that got the largest shock when coming to terms with what a national lockdown really meant. Staff being unable to come to work and yet still needing to remain productive – Zoom meetings – being forced into the common vernacular. The unanticipated workplace experiment eventually suggested that a majority of staff have been able to maintain or even improve their productivity and would like to look at more flexible home base working into the future (BCG.com 2020). It has also shown us that we can-in-fact effective conduct meetings with clients without travelling to their offices or site This, being previously unthinkable in many industries, has now opened some doors. Businesses could choose to reduce on-site staff, employ a hot-desking system to even go completely virtual. Thoughts of the idealism of embracing the positive climate benefits aside, there are perfectly sensible business metrics that can encourage embracing this new normal. Reduction in rented/owned office space, reduction in commuting time, utility costs, making yourself more appealing to millennial staff entering the workplace are demanding new flexibly no afforded to previous generations.
A poll of 573 businesses (CBI.org.uk 2020) overwhelming indicated they are also seeing this as an effective reset in terms of their operations and models. There is a philanthropic push to “build back better”, which includes improving work/life balance and strengthening employee relationships, but also surprisingly, to achieve net-zero emissions as companies reflect on their place and how they fit into the larger communities.
67% say they expect to have increased activities to ‘support the net-zero carbon emissions reduction target’ compared to 2019 (5% decrease).
67% say they will have increased activities ‘to make our business more diverse and inclusive’ (1% decrease).
57% say they will have increased activities ‘to support our local communities’ (3% decrease).
Industries such as hospitality or tourism will likely not be able to adapt to a remote normal post-Covid but there are certainly opportunities for many others.
It’s safe to say things will not be the same going forward whether that’s being able to wear a red hat again, or having masks and sanitiser obsessions becoming the new normal. 2020 if nothing else has given us the tangible need for making an effort to build a support network with co-workers, friends or family, finding time to look after you own wellbeing, or finding new ways to work and be effective in this new world. 2020 has -despite the horrors- has given us the opportunity to reimagine and make changes we need as individuals, as communities and in many industries. If we are going to stay below the 1.5°C climate thresholds and dodge the impacts thereof, we need to reduce emissions by 7.6% every year. This new normal is a small start, but one that is very much needed
Some additional resources
Rosenbloom 2020 May - A COVID-19 recovery for climate
Hervey 2020 Jul - 2020 Is the Worst Year Ever For Fossil Fuels
GCF 2020 - At a turning point: Catalysing climate finance in the era of COVID-19
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