Professor Jem Bendell says Coronavirus (COVID-19) ‘feels like a dress rehearsal’ for global warming
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| Photographer: Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images |
| Jem Bendell is a professor of sustainability leadership and founder of the Institute for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS) at the University of Cumbria. Professor Bendell is the author of Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy, and has written extensively on monetary economics in response to environmental crises. |
The lockdowns and social distancing caused by the coronavirus are giving humanity a taste of the disruptions to daily life that will be caused by climate change, he said.
“In modern industrial societies, the fallout from Covid-19 feels like a dress rehearsal for the kind of collapse that climate change threatens,” Bendell said in an interview. “This crisis reveals how fragile our current way of life has become.”
The University of Cumbria social-science professor is well-known among environmentalists for his theory of “deep adaption.”
In a 2018 paper, Bendell said that time was up for gradual measures to combat global warming. Without an abrupt transformation of society, changes in the planet’s climate would bring starvation, destruction, migration, disease and war -- the collapse of civilization -- within a decade.
Now he’s focusing his scalding assessments on the parallels and links he sees between climate change and the pandemic.
As edgy as people may find him, Bendell shares common ground with some of the world’s most sober-minded financial types, like former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney.
Bendell is a former consultant to the United Nations, has presented papers to the European Commission, co-authored reports for the World Economic Forum and advised Britain’s Labour Party.
He said the first effects of climate change are disasters such as the wildfires in Australia and California, African hurricanes, South Asian typhoons and harvest collapses in the Middle East. Because those factors can disrupt wildlife migration, the second effects of climate change are pandemics, he said.
Carry Diseases
While there’s no direct evidence linking global warming with Covid-19, animals are moving to cooler areas, according to Aaron Bernstein of Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. That’s brought humans in closer contact with them and the diseases they carry, he said. Epidemiologists say the novel coronavirus originated in bats.
Bendell is more willing to make the connection between coronavirus and climate change. He says that a warmer habitat may have caused the bats to alter their movements, putting them in contact with humans.
Partly because of that connection, Bendell said governments should commit only to “fair and green” bailouts, and shouldn’t save carbon-intensive industries such as airlines, oil, gas, coal or cement. Instead, they should let the companies approach bankruptcy and nationalize one or two of them to get them aligned with national climate policies.
“Keeping the most polluting industries afloat will increase the likelihood of future pandemics,” Bendell said.
A Fantasy
Returning to business as usual is a “fantasy,” Bendell said. Policy makers and business leaders must recognize that climate change will be even more disruptive than the coronavirus, he said.
Not everyone is on board with Bendell’s view of the future and his paper, “Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy.”
The paper wasn’t peer reviewed, and Michael Mann, a distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University, said that Bendell “gets the science wrong on just about everything.”
“Bendell’s paper is a classic example of climate doomism, where the science is exaggerated grossly in favor of a doomist narrative,” Mann said in an email.
Bendell, a professor of sustainability leadership, said it was strange that climate scientists are viewed as authorities on predicting climate’s impact on human societies. He said academics in areas such as sociology, economics and politics are better suited for that.
Some authorities echo Bendell’s views. Carney said financial companies could face a “climate Minsky moment,” or a sudden collapse of values, if they didn’t address climate change. Economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. warned that the most extreme risks of climate change, including the collapse of human civilization, can’t be ruled out. Consulting firm McKinsey & Co. said intensifying climate hazards could put millions of lives at risk, as well as trillions of dollars of economic activity.
Steven Desmyter, co-head of responsible investment at Man Group, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, also agrees with Bendell.
“No one saw Covid-19 coming,” Desmyter said. “With global warming, there’s a catastrophe of equal or greater magnitude on the horizon that we can still do something about.”
Links
- Here’s What The Coronavirus Pandemic Can Teach Us About Tackling Climate Change
- (US) The Analogy Between Covid-19 And Climate Change Is Eerily Precise
- $2tn US Coronavirus Relief Comes Without Climate Stipulations
- Coronavirus: 'Nature Is Sending Us A Message’, Says UN Environment Chief
- How Changes Brought On By Coronavirus Could Help Tackle Climate Change
- 5 Lessons From Coronavirus That Will Help Us Tackle Climate Change
- (US) Editorial: Climate Change Is Just As Real As Covid-19. Now’s The Last, Best Chance For Our Government To Treat It That Way
- (AU) Call To Integrate Post-Virus Rebuild With Land And Climate Repair
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