Time to remember the world before January 2020, when the outbreak of Corona Virus in China almost reached its climax and the very first cases in Europe where being identified. In December 2019, the world was busy thinking if Bernie Sanders can finally make it to the October elections and threaten the economic and social system of the Western economy. That concern is now in the past: Socialist populism will not probably make it to the second round again. The IMF and World Bank both had very high projections on the economic growth in 2020 and the trade war between China and European Union with the United States was about to settle. Meanwhile there were speculations on the potential war between Iran and the United States, Iran’s government did not agree to join the FATF agreement concerning money laundry.
During this crisis, the world has dramatically changed. For the first time in many decades the countries shut down their airports and cancelled almost all the passenger flights for good. After a long time, all these countries are facing a mutual problem, and they are coming up with the same solution. This unique situation has led to sympathy among the nations, which easily can be seen on social media. Medical staff have been traveling from Cuba, Russia, Germany and France across the world and mostly Southern Europe to help countries overcome the virus. Almost all the conflicts have settled and the main focus of the politicians and media is to solve this only one issue.
As soon as the environmental crisis reaches its peak, potentially in less than 10 or 20 years at the latest, there will be another lockdown of big companies and societies. But next time it can have more consequences for humanity: As soon as the current situation is solved, governments have to turn their focus to minimise the economic and social costs of the new crisis. It will not happen if big oil companies continue to operate in the North Pole for new exploration or the US government still stays out of the Paris agreement, which itself is the most minimal act a government could take. Cutting taxes on high-tech and green companies and their products should be the first act of a hopefully none-Trump government. New measures and incentives should be provided for the Chinese authorities to reduce the plastic consumption and CO2 emissions in the Eastern Chinese lands. A considerable system of acts must be considered to make the costs of the upcoming crisis minimal, or the humanity will regret missing the last chance to solve the climate change problem.
Siavash Mohades 