The Coronavirus Pandemic and Sustainability: Initial Thoughts

Name: Makeda Smith| Week: Term 2, Week 2 | Theme: Coronavirus & Sustainability

The coronavirus pandemic has had detrimental effects on many aspects of our everyday lives and these effects have been felt across the globe in different ways. As the pandemic is still on-going and the situation is particularly serious in the UK, it is difficult to theorise any outcomes or imagine what the future, near or further away, will look like.

Thinking about what the coronavirus has meant for sustainability and what it could mean in the future is an interesting topic area to discuss. One thing that is clear is that the coronavirus pandemic has slowed, halted, and changed how we as a society not only consume but also how we produce. The pandemic has been damaging certainly in terms of human sustainability however, there is no denying that the difficulties we have and are facing have brought about different consequences. More generally this has resulted in less emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other pollutants which is partly down to the inability to move around freely, trade freely and consume freely etc. (Goffman 2020). It has been suggested that consumerism and the interconnectedness of the world are two of the many areas that could and in some ways should change in light of the pandemic and move towards a more sustainable future.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the political, environmental, and economic aspects of human life on which psychological development and sustainability are dependent. This ultimately affects the quality of life by disturbing people’s living standards” (El Keshky 2020). The effect that the coronavirus has had on us mentally and attitude-wise might see us making more permanent changes to how we operate as a whole, as nations, and as individuals etc. It has been suggested that we may or perhaps should rethink our perspective on globalisation and consider “Glocalization” more closely. “It is even possible that cultural values will shift away from short-term materialism toward a more socially beneficent ethic” (Goffman 2020).

It is clear that the pandemic has presented many challenges through out society. How we deal with the challenges presents opportunities to apply changes and maybe adapt or evolve existing systems and structures with sustainability in mind. “Social scientists have long recognized that disasters, especially when the scale of their tragic consequences emerges with modest but steady pace, have a tendency to catalyze processes of social change” (Cohen 2020).

Changes take time and any such changes associated with the coronavirus are only at the beginning of their respective discussion stages. More in-depth discussions may emerge slowly in the coming months. The coronavirus pandemic and its effects are still on-going, and it will certainly take time for society to get back to ‘business as usual’ but perhaps we should not seek to go back to what is considered ‘normal’ and transition into a new mode. Just some food for thought!

References:

Cohen, Maurie J. 2020. “Does the COVID-19 outbreak mark the onset of a sustainable consumption transition?” Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy. Volume 16, Issue 1 1–3. http://0-dx.doi.org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/10.1080/15487733.2020.1740472.

El Keshky, Mogeda El Sayed, Sawzan Sadaqa Basyouni, and Abeer Mohammad Al Sabban. 2020. “Getting Through COVID-19: The Pandemic’s Impact on The Psychology of Sustainability, Quality of Life, and The Global Economy- A Systemic Review.” Frontiers in Psychology. Volume 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.585897.

Goffman, Ethan. 2020. “In the wake of COVID-19, is glocalization our sustainability future?” Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy. Volume 16, Issue 1 48–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2020.1765678.