Future brief: COVID-19 and the environment: Links, impacts and lessons learned

Shale, Nicky; Jenner, Nicky; Bird, Eleanor

Abstract

Introduction Since early 2020, the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), known as COVID-19 (first detected at the end of 2019), has hit societies worldwide, unsparingly, causing massive impacts on people’s lives: our health, activities, livelihoods, societies and economies. However, over the course of the pandemic, COVID-19 is not the only crisis our human and planetary systems have been dealing with. While the pandemic has been progressing, the world has simultaneously been undergoing other existing crises: those of biodiversity loss, loss of environmental health and rapid climate changes, associated with resource use, land-use changes and ongoing emission of carbon into the atmosphere. A growing world population and encroachment into areas of high biodiversity and microbial diversity, often in search of food, minerals or for farming purposes has meant that habitats and species are increasingly under pressure from human activities (IPBES, 2020).

• Report Type: Technical Report
• Publication Date: Aug 4, 2022
• Deposit Date: Sep 22, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 28, 2022
• Pages: 1-76
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2779/42868
• Keywords: COVID-19, COVID-19 Pandemic, Environment, COVID-19 impact, air quality , climate change , coronavirus disease, environmental impact, farming sector, health risk, land use, plastic waste, quality of the environment, reduction of gas emissions, tourism
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10000256
• Publisher URL: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d9a15ec3-1ea2-11ed-8fa0-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
• Additional Information: Acknowledgements; We wish to thank the scientific advisor, Professor David Hayman (Massey University, New Zealand), for his useful input to this report. Final responsibility for the content and accuracy of the report, however, lies solely with the authors. The contents and views included in Science for EnvironmentPolicy are based on independent research and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Commission.; Print ISBN 978-92-76-53096-1 doi:10.2779/627177 KH-07-22-369-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-76-53095-4 doi: 10.2779/42868 KH-07-22-369-EN-N Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2022 ©European Union, 2022; Reuse is authorized provided the source is acknowledged.; The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833 /EU (OJL 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39).; For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EU copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders.