SpecialArticle 2

The Pandemic & the Global
Environment: From Despair to Hope

By Jillian YorkeThe world saw a dramatic improvement in air quality and amount ofpollution and a proliferation of flora and fauna during the Covid-19
lockdowns in many countries, giving humanity hope that substantial,
rapid change is achievable. However, once restrictions eased, thispositive effect did not linger long. Nevertheless, there have been somelasting benefits, such as the ongoing popularity of working from home,
reducing road traffic, air pollution, and the stress of commuting. Manythings that had seemed impossible before, such as greatly reducing airflights, consuming much less, housing the homeless, and generally
slowing down, have proved doable. If we can take drastic measures in
response to a virus, surely we can do the same for climate change, amuch more urgent issue.
Although the pandemic may have eclipsed the climate crisis over thelast few months, it has also shown us that, with the political will,
fundamental systemic changes are not only possible, but can be fasterand more profound that we had hoped. In April, Janet Stephenson,
director of the Centre for Sustainability at New Zealand’s University ofOtago, stated, “The changes we need to make to reduce the risks are
significantly less disruptive than lockdown. If we don’t, the long-termdevastation of human welfare, and that of other species, will be far
worse than Covid-19.”
As the momentous 2020 draws to a close, what lies ahead? Can wedraw on the lessons learned from our experience of Covid-19 to createa more equitable, sustainable world and to develop responsible
stewardship of our planet? Below I consider some of the initiatives anddrivers for change for a better future – ways in which, rather thanreturning to the old business-as-usual norms that were based on anunsustainable industrial growth model, we can “stitch a new garmentthat fits all of humanity” (Sonya Pence Taylor).

Addressing Climate Change: Signs of Hope
Every day we read of melting ice caps, heat waves and widespread
fires, rising sea levels, disastrous droughts, and other calamities. The
pandemic has worsened things for vulnerable groups such as
indigenous peoples in the Amazon, whose homelands are alreadydevastated by decades of exploitation, illegal deforestation, mining andindustrial farming, and unlawful occupation. Leaders have expressed
concern that the older generation may be lost to Covid-19, leaving noone to pass on ancestral wisdom to the next generations (JapanTimes, Aug. 7, 2020).
Moreover, there has been an increase in rubbish directly related toCovid-19, such as piles of used masks and personal protective
30 Japan SPOTLIGHT • January / February 2021

Author Jillian Yorkeequipment (PPE), and the waste arising from coffee shops that will nolonger let customers bring their own reusable cups, or from pubs
selling takeaway beers in plastic cups. To avoid the risk of spreading
infection, throw-away, one-use items have often become the norm,such as the two million disposable pens employed for use in the recent
New Zealand general election.
Confronted with the enormity of global climate change, many tend
to give up and go on as usual, or become frozen with despair:succumbing to either panic or paralysis, as Joanna Macy puts it.
However, there is another way forward: to see the situation clearly, butnevertheless to have hope and to take actions towards positive ends,
regardless of how bad things may look. As governments will have tokeep fiscally stimulating their economies for many years, this is an
opportunity to transition from carbon-powered energy to renewables,
which could ease the cost as well, by helping nations to meet theiremissions targets while also creating new jobs in fields such as solar
and wind generation, batteries, electricity grid improvement, anddecarbonization of transport and manufacturing.
Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics, says, “The public has aright to demand that companies receiving help contribute to social andracial justice, improved health and the shift to a greener, more
knowledge-based economy” and believes that green investment can be“timely, labor-intensive, and highly stimulative, moving countries
closer to the societies they claim to be.” In the United Kingdom, it willsoon become mandatory for large companies and financial institutions
to provide climate risk reports, while in 2021 the country’s first green
gilt will be floated in the financial markets, raising funds for investment
in carbon-reducing projects and job creation.
Global activist movements such as Extinction Rebellion, OceanRebellion, Avaaz, Tree Sisters, Action Station in New Zealand, andnumerous other parties have long been pointing the way. Macy urges
us to make the shift from the industrial growth model to a lifesustaining civilization, which she dubs the “Great Turning” – “theessential adventure of our time”. This Great Turning has three
dimensions: actions to slow the damage to Earth and its beings,
analysis of structural causes and the creation of structural alternatives,and a shift in consciousness. Karenna Gore, founder of the Center for
Earth Ethics, sees the illusion of the separation between humans andnature as a core issue. Our current economic model, which is basedon endless industrial growth, does not take into account negative
effects such as pollution, inequality, and resource depletion, or
consider the long-term benefits of environmental measures. A
fundamental shift is needed, such as that formulated by Kate Raworth
https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/

Photo: Author

Shift from International Travel to Staycations?
At a recent meeting, where participants discussed how we had been
affected by Covid-19, I was struck by the reliance of so many of us on
the regular use of international flights. Many believe this will have tochange – and the pandemic has brought this issue into sharp focus,
with clearer skies resulting from far fewer flights. But once we are able
to again fly internationally, how many of us will refrain from doing so?
Meanwhile, “staycations” – holidaying at home or at least in the same
country – are growing in popularity. Airbus plans to develop theworld’s first hydrogen-based zero-emission commercial aircraft by
2035 (The Guardian, Sept. 22, 2020). Through such developments,
perhaps it will eventually be possible to travel by plane without causing
ecological harm.

Mount Karangahake, sacred to Māori and treasured by many New Zealanders, is currently
being mined for gold. Protect Karangahake (https://protectkarangahake.org.nz/) is protesting
against this and favors more sustainable uses of the mountain.

in her doughnut economic model, with its detailed plan fortransforming degenerative, divisive economies into regenerative, more
distributive ones.
The Dalai Lama says that, since we are all inextricably interconnected with each other and with nature, it is to our own benefit tocare for each other and the planet, and sees problems arising when we
address new realities with old mindsets. “Our Mother Earth is teaching
us a lesson about universal responsibility.” Some have suggested that
there should always be three empty chairs in rooms where majordecisions are made, symbolizing the marginalized, all future
generations, and all non-human life.
Damon Gameau provides many reasons for hope in the film 2040,
which extrapolates what the world could be like 20 years from now,even if we make use only of currently existing technology andinnovative ideas.
In Borneo, Health in Harmony and local NGO Alam Sehat Lestari
have achieved a 70% reduction in deforestation by providing easieraccess to affordable healthcare, after being told by indigenous
communities that they worked as loggers to earn enough money for
medical treatment. This shows the importance of listening to local
voices.
According to a just-released report by the International Energy
Agency, global renewable electricity installation will hit a record level in2020.
Global peace activists have long been calling for a transfer of funds
from military goals to more peaceful purposes, which would free up ahuge amount of money. A Call for Action after Covid-19 by New
Zealand Quakers “calls on every person in Aotearoa New Zealand tobring about whatever changes they can to enable us to live in harmony
with one another and with the planet.”
Finally, the election of Joe Biden as the next president of the UnitedStates has brought renewed hope for climate action, since Biden has
promised to rejoin the Paris Agreement, as well as to substantiallylower US emissions by investing in low-carbon technology. Moreover,strong US leadership in this area is likely to have a powerful effect onother countries as well.

Environmental Conundrums & Initiatives
Some measures are not so clear-cut. The environmental effect ofbuilding an electric car, for example, might involve more CO2
emissions than a petrol-based car; however, over its entire life cycle
the electric car has fewer total emissions. A recent study found that,although trees tend to grow faster in warmer climes, they have ashorter lifespan – accordingly, as temperatures increase, forests mightgrow more quickly, but could store less carbon with the shorter
lifespan of the trees. And, unexpectedly, in some countries, thepandemic has had a negative effect on attitudes to public transport,with many people now preferring to use their own cars rather thanpublic transport.
However, new environmental initiatives with potentially far-reaching
beneficial consequences are constantly emerging. One is the“syntropic farming” developed by Ernst Gotsch, a process-based
farming that goes beyond sustainability or regenerative agriculture toactively improve the soil and overall environment and create a positiveenergy balance.
Fairphone makes an ethical smartphone and “aims to motivate thewhole industry to take action on social and environmental issues in theelectronics supply chain” through innovative long-lasting design, fairmaterials, good working conditions and recycling, and encourages
people to keep their phones for as long as possible, since “the mostsustainable phone is the one you already have.”“Green” hydrogen is made entirely from renewable sources andcould be used as fuel to supplement solar and wind power, todecarbonize public transport, to provide green fuel for heavy-duty
vehicles, and to fly zero-carbon planes. Renewable hydrogen can also
be used to produce steel with near-zero emissions. Lithium hasrecently been found in hot salty springs in Cornwall in the UK, which
could be used for electric car batteries.
Covid-19 has allowed us to re-think our future, a matter of utmosturgency. Let us build on our hope and strengths to work together for agreener, fairer world.
Jillian Yorke is a translator, writer and editor who lived in Japan for many
years and is now based in New Zealand, where she is the curator of the Japan
Library: Pukapuka.

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