NJIT Faculty Joins Int'l Forum on Future of Sustainability Post-COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic continues upending life for countless people around the world, threatening public health while disrupting everything from basic home and work routines, to air travel and financial markets. But what has the global slowdown meant for the environment and sustainable living, and what could it mean if some of the radical changes in our everyday lifestyles and consumption habits persisted long-term?

Last week, the topic brought together a diverse group of scientists, economists, educators and hundreds more around the world virtually during a live webinar titled, “COVID-19 Can Help Wealthier Nations Prepare for a Sustainability Transition.”

The open forum-style event, organized by researchers from the international sustainability organization FutureEarth, set up an online discussion on the major global sustainability trends and issues that have evolved in recent months alongside the coronavirus outbreak. 

Participants streamed with questions and comments via YouTube and Zoom on topics ranging from the changing nature of work and consumerism, to the recent environmental gains that have emerged with the unprecedented slowing of travel and economic activity. 

“Without question, the world after COVID-19 will be a changed one,” said Steven McGreevy, forum moderator and environmental sociologist at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, Japan. “Our goal is to explore how to navigate these changes to open pathways toward a sustainability transition. I think that’s why we’ve all gathered online … to jump-start that conversation.”

“Few of us imagined that we would be looking into the eye of a cold stop shutdown of significant parts of the global economy,” said Maurie Cohen, professor at NJIT’s Department of Humanities and a host at the event. “We designed this session as a platform to consider how the fundamental cultural and political narrative of our times is inevitably going to change, and in perhaps radical ways.

“Proposals that were outside the mainstream are now suddenly being raced into place or on the table … nationalization of key industries, municipal ownership and cooperativism at significant scale, to name a few.”

The online event — inspired by a publication in early March by Cohen and colleagues on behalf of the Future Earth Knowledge-Action Network on Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production — frequently highlighted the need for sustainability issues and initiatives to take a prominent place in coming post-COVID-19 economic recovery plans. Participants weighed in from their living spaces and varied time zones, stretching from Japan and Australia to the West Coast of North America.

“I think people need to be aware of the sustainability component to this crisis, it’s not a random event,” said Miriam Bodenheimer, a researcher who joined in from the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovations Research in Karlsruhe, Germany. “Lack of biodiversity seems to have contributed, and the supply chains that are globally connected and so on have all had a strong impact on the level this crisis is taking on, so this may get people behind the idea that something needs to change, and that we can’t go back to business as usual.”

People need to be aware of the sustainability component to this crisis, it’s not a random event.

“There is a gendered implication to the COVID crisis and what this is doing is revealing the often-invisible care economy that has subsidized the paid economy in a critical way,” added Vanessa Timmer, director of One Earth, a nonprofit organization from Vancouver, Canada. “We know from the SARS crisis that women return to their previous income levels slower than men after they sacrifice work with children returning home, and girls more often don’t return to education after schools are closed. So as we talk about COVID, let’s talk about these implications and supporting women going forward.”

The two-hour discussion also covered the long-term implications of radical changes occurring in the wake of the pandemic, such as greater shifts toward work-life balance with teleconferencing more firmly replacing traditional business commuting and travel, adopting more localized and resilient supply chains, as well as coronavirus financial packages now being explored by governments and the concept of universal basic income (UBI). 

Some participants pitched collaborative research opportunities to design interactive models for studying the impact of such stimulus packages for families in various countries.

“Many countries are already, in effect, moving in the direction [of UBI], at least on a provisional basis,” said Cohen, author of a recent paper on the sustainability dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic in the journal Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy. “We outlined that we would see a deep contraction in retail purchases and that the COVID pandemic could mark the end of GDP [gross domestic product] as a metric of consequence. 

“While there was the anticipated stockpiling in recent weeks, we are now seeing what some have described as ‘destruction of demand.’ We are looking at economic contractions of 30%, and perhaps significantly larger if current lockdowns extend beyond the currently anticipated periods.”

The dramatic drop in commercial activity internationally from quarantines and travel restrictions has already had a noticeable impact on consumption patterns and the environment, albeit perhaps only temporary.

Oil demand is expected to fall for the first time since 2009 because of the pandemic due to constricted travel and other economic activity, according to a recent oil market forecast by the International Energy Agency.

Meanwhile, images from NASA’s Earth Observatory have shown significantly decreased levels of air pollution where prolonged quarantine measures have been instituted, particularly across China’s Wuhan Region, the initial epicenter of the outbreak. The BBC has also reported that New York’s carbon monoxide levels have decreased by 50% compared to this time last year.

“There have actually been positive environmental changes, and some of these might revert back while others might stay,” said Magnus Bengtsson, a collaborator with Future Earth during the forum. “We are asking if there is a possibility that this global trauma could accelerate a much-needed transition to a more sustainable way of living … is there something we can do to try to lock in some of these environmental gains?

“At this point in time, the most useful thing we can do is to formulate good questions and generate a rich set of ideas that can lead to action and make sure the right lessons are being learned from this crisis.”

To watch the full recording of the forum, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eD6QXa4pP8