The Environmental Impact of COVID-19: False Hope of Improvements?
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After COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation’s Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on 11 March 2020, much of the world came to a halt. Economies worsened, jobs were lost, the death tolls rose. As the world was shutting down, initial environmental improvements became visible, including a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, providing one potential consolation of the pandemic.
Restrictions on travel, social and economic activities resulted in an initial drop in emissions from GHGs. As early as March 2020, the records paints a clear picture. Fewer and fewer cars on the streets of New York led to a roughly 50 percent decrease in carbon monoxide (CO) in the city. Meanwhile, data from the European Environmental Agency indicated that due to lockdowns across Europe there had been a 30-60 percent decrease in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) compared to a year earlier in many cities, such as Paris, Barcelona, and Rome. Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were also 17 percent lower than a year earlier. This overall reduction in GHG emissions has been visible to the eye. For example, in the northern Indian city of Jalandhar, the Himalayan mountains, over 160km away ,could be seen for the first time in several decades as the air pollution disippated.
However, the relative impact of these reduced levels should not be overstated. According to the World Meteorological Organisation’s Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, the fall in emissions due to COVID-19 and lockdowns ‘is just a tiny blip on the longer-term graph’. More recently, various data shows that air pollution levels have already reverted to the norm, rising again across the globe. This includes the atmosphere above China, where satellite data from the European Space Agency revealed that NO2 levels had returned to pre-pandemic levels by early 2021.
The pandemic has also driven an increase in waste and pollution to the detriment of the environment. The high demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) has increased the amount of medical waste and plastic pollution. In Wuhan alone, more than 240 tons of single-use plastic-based medical waste, including face masks and gloves, were produced per day at the pandemic’s peak, more than six times the pre-pandemic average.
The quarantine policies of many countries and a general shift in people’s habits also increased the amount plastic waste due to more home deliveries, online shopping, and take-out meals in single-use plastic containers. Resultingly, the size of the global plastic packaging market has been projected to grow significantly, from $909.2 billion (£652.11 billion) in 2019, to $1012.6 billion (£726.27 billion) in this year.
Additionally, a general prioritisation of human over environmental health and wellbeing has resulted in decreased recycling activities and policies. In the US, fears over the spread of COVID-19 at recycling centres resulted in reduced recycling programmes in nearly 46 percent of cities. Consequently, the environmental footprint of plastics has increased in correspondence with reduced recycling.
Furthermore, there has been an increase in the production of new plastic. New plastic, known as virgin plastic, is made by the oil industry. Economic decline has dramatically decreased the demand for oil, consequently cutting the price of virgin plastic. The World Economic Forum emphasised the significance of plastics as a factor in climate change, reporting that manufacturing four plastic bottle releases the same amount of GHGs as driving one mile in a car. Rather than decreasing the amount of plastic, the COVID-19 pandemic led to more being created, and there are no signs of that slowing down any time soon. In the next five years, the oil and gas industry plans to spend roughly $400 billion (£287 billion) on plants to manufacture raw materials for virgin plastic.
Environmental and wildlife conservation has also suffered due the pandemic, particularly in the Global South. According to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, those working in over half of the protected areas in Africa were made to reduce or altogether stop their work, including anti-poaching operations, patrols, and conservation outreach and education. Meanwhile in Asia, conservation activities had to be cut in over 25% of protected areas. In Brazil, illegal loggers took advantage of situation, accelerating their work and subsequently destroying the Amazon rainforest. Satellite data from the National Institute for Space Research showed that 64 percent more land was cleared in April 2020 compared to the same month a year earlier.
Many planned conferences and meetings have also been postponed or cancelled due to restrictions in travelling and large physical gatherings. This includes the Conference of the Parties’ 26th meeting (COP26). Originally meant to be held in Glasgow in November 2020 with up to 30,000 attendees, it was postponed a year due to the pandemic. This ultimately stagnates current progress and delays new initiatives and developments to help the environment and fight against climate change.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic itself will not have significant long-term positive impact on the environment, or done anything to change climate change’s course, it has showcased the world’s ability to respond in crises and take drastic actions, providing some hope for the collective future changes that will be needed to tackle the climate crisis which looms ever larger.
