Climate pandemic

Climate change is a pandemic in the making as there is rise in temperature, scarcity of water and unbreathable air in the world, but most governments are not taking it seriously. The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) was a black swan event (low probability, very high impact). It may threaten mankind, but no one took it seriously and now the planet is suffering. Learning a lesson from the Covid-19 pandemic and its socioeconomic impact, the world must take climate change as a real and serious threat and get prepared for it. Also, the world should continue spending on building resilience against climate change, otherwise the future will be very bleak.

It merits a mention that the goal of limiting global temperature increase to well below two degrees celsius had become less and less achievable with every single day, as the world was not doing enough for it. Also, Covid-19 is just a smaller and faster version of how the impacts of climate change will be. When we talk about reducing the steepness of the curve for the virus, the same applies to climate change in a bigger way. Global leaders have an important role to play in decision-making regarding their openness to listening to climate science.

Khan Faraz

Peshawar