The New Normal is not the Old Normal – How the Virus changed our lives forever

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Remember the skies that bled blue. Remember the clean rivers and the empty roads. Remember the millions who savoured fresh air in their cities. Remember that after two generations, residents in Jalandhar saw the snow capped Himalayas clearly. And remember that the Ganga, considered unfit for bathing has now been declared palatable at a few stretches. Significantly, remember that the virus inadvertently opened a window to a world that was based on depletion of resources.

And when it is all over, the proof of concept will be open for discussion in the public domain. Choices will be stark but the old normal should not become the new normal again. We have an opportunity to press the reset button and create a new normal, one where equity prevails for all things natural. The catch here is, will we be able to remember.

Worldwide air travel had been growing exponentially with emissions about 32% higher in 2018 as compared to the past five years. Calls for embracing better technology were steadily neglected. As if extraction of oil was not harmful enough, modern means of extracting shale oil led to devastation of pristine landscapes. Even the globally recognized menace of single use plastic was not steadfastly combated. Railway tracks through pristine forests, roads through tiger reserves, marginalization of indigenous people, nuclear power plants in ecologically sensitive habitats had become a norm and a corollary to projects of national importance. We have wronged the earth in many ways and would have continued to do so, if the virus had not decided to crash the party.  

As the forced lockdown compels humanity to ponder over the choices made in the past few decades, a thread that stands out universally is that our lives are fragile. The things we took for granted were easily snatched away from our hands. The ubiquitous Indian railway, the friendly vegetable hawker, the drive to the nearest hyper-market are no longer available at our beck and call as the resilience of these inter-connected networks are frayed at the edges. Belatedly, but thankfully, there is a realisation that the forgotten fires of the Amazon and Australia, the countless floods, increasing famines and heat waves, sea level rise and pandemics are but a consequence of the lifestyle choices made by humankind.

New Ideas for Action

With politicians routinely shrugging off climate campaigners as doomsday agents, government action on combating COVID 19 provides a roadmap to tackle the climate crisis as well if the government is forced to put its mind into it. Just as the virus disrupted the world in the short term (hopefully), the climate crisis is likely to impact our way of life and transform the world irreversibly. Campaigners need to push through this messaging more than ever before.

Activists need to move away from the dreadfully distant narrative of melting icebergs and imperceptible rise of sea levels. They need to ask of us whether our climate nonchalance could lead to a societal disruption, just as the virus has so casually managed to in the past weeks. If nothing, the crisis has demonstrated that our habits can be modified and governments can be forced to act on the climate crisis as effectively as the efforts towards flattening the virus’s curve.

Unfortunately, the case for revival of nature as an effect of the virus-induced lockdown is fraught with risks with too many environmentalists proclaiming “we told you so’. This shaming of large sections of the human race can lead to a setback in the efforts towards integrating climate science with policy. It is now certain that the virus will not lead to a long term reduction of pollution and as things stand, the possibility of bouncing back to the old-normal will be rapid and may impact the environment catastrophically. Celebrating the pristine view of the Himalayas or the clear skies cannot be a cause celebre as it has been accompanied with a high societal toll. This episode instead can serve as a benchmark for future fights and as marker of what an ideal worldview of our planet’s future should be. This is the time where we should lay the stake for a cleaner business, for planting more trees, for protecting the right of common citizens to breathe fresh air and swim in clean rivers. This should be the legacy of the pandemic.

Lessons from the Pandemic

A concept being explored by the corporate world as an alternative to the lockdown is ‘working from home’. It shines light on reducing the carbon footprint while ensuring that efficiency at the work place is upheld. The futility of unnecessary travel, whether to the office or on official business is being acknowledged by companies. Consumers are recognizing, albeit belatedly that current shopping patterns were not based on critical need but driven by a market economy and often fed by an aggressive advertising machine.

Exploitative businesses were comfortably marching on the path of profit making when the lockdown began. It is estimated that China’s lockdown reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 25% and possibly saved more than 77000 lives as a result of cleaner air. In India, the cumulative benefits of cleaner air and water outweigh the mortality estimates of the virus. It is being estimated that the lockdown has significantly reduced road accidents. This phenomenon of exploiting nature has halted now but the fear is that businesses might go for the knockout punch after the lockdown lifts as governments ease environment regulations in an effort to kickstart the economy. This spectacle will occur far away from our eyes but the effects of this rebounding industrial growth might be worse than the current levels of pollution.

Critically, the rebirth of our earth needs to be looked at from the eyes of our future generations. And the opportunity to do so now exists. Children have been some of the hardest hit segments as a result of the lockdown across the world. More than adults, their worlds based on storytelling and make-believe has come tumbling down. Just as children of war carry the scar of conflict, the children of this generation will never forget the virus which changed the lives of their parents and changed the way they could even play games. These children will lead the efforts to save the biosphere from further degradation. 

Wishful thinking it may be, but can children be led through a tunnel that has warm light at the end of it. Can the millions of boys and girls be asked to plant 10 trees each as a precondition to pass their board exam as countries such as the Philippines has successfully demonstrated.

We have learnt that as communities and as individuals, we change best when we are affected as individuals, when our sense of freedom and our quality of life is on stake. And the virus has taught us that we as a species can change real fast, if nudged sufficiently. If we can be motivated enough to reduce our travel and increase our concern for nature, if we can question our politicians and challenge big business, individual action has the potential to transform the community of this generation.