Page 110 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

paying attention to the multifaceted range of immediate problems
created by the pandemic crisis. Another narrative has also

emerged, elaborated by some national leaders, senior business
executives and prominent opinion-makers. It runs along these
lines that the COVID-19 crisis cannot go to waste and that now is
the time to enact sustainable environmental policies.

In reality, what happens with the fight against climate change

in the post-pandemic era could go in two opposite directions. The
first corresponds to the narrative above: the economic
consequences of the pandemic are so painful, difficult to address

and complex to implement that most governments around the
world may decide to “temporarily” put aside concerns about global
warming to focus on the economic recovery. If such is the case,
policy decisions will support and stimulate fossil-fuel heavy and
carbon-emitting industries by subsidizing them. They will also roll

back stringent environmental standards seen as a stumbling block
on the road to rapid economic recovery and will encourage
companies and consumers to produce and consume as much

“stuff” as possible. The second is spurred by a different narrative,
in which businesses and governments are emboldened by a new
social conscience among large segments of the general
population that life can be different, and is pushed by activists: the
moment must be seized to take advantage of this unique window

of opportunity to redesign a more sustainable economy for the
greater good of our societies.

Let’s examine both divergent possible outcomes in more
detail. Needless to say, they are country and region (EU)

dependent. No two countries will adopt the same policies nor
move at the same speed but, ultimately, they should all embrace
the direction of the less carbon-intensive trend.

Three key reasons could explain why this is not a given and
why the focus on the environment could fade when the pandemic

starts retreating:

1. Governments could decide that it is in the best collective
interest to pursue growth at “any cost” in order to cushion

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