Falling pollution 'not a silver lining' of coronavirus, says UN environment head

Inger Andersen wrote that the shutdowns to contain the pandemic will not avert climate change but post-Covid recovery could spur green development

Dr.Li Wenliang who died from Coronavirus. Wuhan, China

Excavators and workers are seen at the construction site where the new Huoshenshan Hospital is being built to treat patients of a new coronavirus on the outskirts of Wuhan, China. Reuters

A policeman wearing a coronavirus-themed outfit composed of helmet, mace and shield, walks at a market to raise awareness about social distancing, during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Chennai, on April 2, 2020. / AFP / Arun SANKAR

The quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship at Daikoku pier cruise terminal in Yokohama.  AFP

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - APRIL 3: Residents stand on white lines on the ground spaced to enforce social distancing as they queue to enter a slum area on April 3, 2020 in Manila, Philippines. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday ordered law enforcement to "shoot" residents caught violating quarantine rules during a month long lockdown in the country to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The Philippines' main island Luzon, which includes capital Manila, has been on lockdown for more than two weeks. Land, sea, and air travel has been suspended, while government work, schools, businesses, and public transportation have been ordered shut in a bid to keep some 55 million people at home. The Philippines' Department of Health has so far confirmed 3,018 cases of the new coronavirus in the country, with at least 136 recorded fatalities. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

epa08325517 General view of the empty Piccadilly Circus in London, Britain, 26 March 2020. Britain's prime minister Boris Johnson has implemented social distancing measures banning social gatherings and groups of more than two people amid the ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. People must stand more than two metres apart. Several European countries have closed borders, schools as well as public facilities, and have cancelled most major sports and entertainment events in order to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causing the Covid-19 disease. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

An electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes Covid-19. EPA

A security guard stands outside the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market where the coronavirus was detected in Wuhan on January 24, 2020. AFP

A cyclist travels down a nearly deserted road in the Chinese city of Wuhan on January 26, 2020. AFP

The World Health Organisation has warned all governments to be on alert and screening has been stepped up at airports around the world. Getty Images.

Mr Ghebreyesus announced that the coronavirus outbreak can now be characterised as a pandemic. AFP

Members of a medical assistance team from Jiangsu province chant slogans at a ceremony marking their departure after helping with the COVID-19 coronavirus recovery effort, in Wuhan.

People wearing face masks walk at a riverside park in Wuhan of Hubei province. Reuters

Staff members line up at attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province.AFP

The Diamond Princess cruise ship was placed in quarantine off the port of Yokohama after a number of the 3,700 people on board were confirmed to have coronavirus. Getty Images

Lee Man-hee, leader of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, speaks during a press conference. The leader of a South Korean sect linked to more than half the country's 4,000-plus coronavirus cases apologised on March 2 for the spread of the disease. AFP

Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in front of a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, South Korea. AP

View of Palacio de Hielo ice skating centre in Madrid. The facilities will be used as a morgue for coronavirus fatalities. EPA/CHEMA MOYA

A student takes classes online with his companions using the Zoom APP at home during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in El Masnou, north of Barcelona, Spain. Reuters

A boy with an Italian tricolor flag stands on a balcony during a flash mob launched across Italy to bring people together and try to cope with the emergency of the coronavirus, in Rome. EPA

A nurse wearing protective mask and gear comforts another as they change shifts on March 13, 2020 at the Cremona hospital, southeast of Milan, Lombardy, during the country's lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19. EPA

A worker wears protective gear to spray disinfectant on Piazza Duomo in Milan.AFP

A police officer walks across an empty Seventh Avenue in a sparsely populated Times Square due to COVID-19 concerns in New York. AP

Stocks markets around the world have swung wildly in recent weeks as the coronavirus outbreak hammers global economy. Reuters

US President Donald Trump, center, at a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, on Friday, April 3, 2020. Bloomberg

The military field hospital outside the Emile Muller Hospital in Mulhouse, eastern France. AFP

This picture tshows the Eiffel tower and the deserted place du Trocadero in Paris, on the twelveth day of a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) in France. AFP

Health workers wearing protective gear transport a patient on a stretcher toward a tent used as the reception of the emergency services of the Aix Hospital Centre, Aix-en-Provence, southern France. AFP

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends a meeting about Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics at the prime minister's office in Tokyo. AFP

People wearing a mask walk near the Olympics' mark in Odaiba, Tokyo on February 22, 2020, amid the outbreak of a new coronavirus in Japan. AFP

NHS workers applaud on the streets outside Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, London, Britain, Reuters

The ExCeL London has been transformed into a field hospital. AFP

Boris Johnson on a screen as he remotely chairs the morning novel coronavirus Covid-19 meeting by video link, in Downing Street. AFP

A man sits at New Delhi's border barricade during lockdown by the authorities to limit the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India. Reuters

A migrant worker carries his son as they walk along a road with others to return to their village, during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India,F Reuters

Police community support officers talk to a person as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, Brighton, Britain. Reuters

Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at Wuchang Fangcang Hospital, a temporary hospital set up at Hongshan Gymnasium to treat people infected with the coronavirus and COVID-19 disease, in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. AP

Atmosphere of empty Westfield World Trade Center during coronavirus pandemic in New York City, NY, USA . Reuters

The Central Park field hospital constructed by members of Samaritan's Purse are seen in New York. The hospital began taking patients on Tuesday and is equipped to accommodate 68 beds with ventilators. Reuters

Chinese travellers wear protective masks as they bow their heads at 10 AM for three minutes of silence to mark the country's national day of mourning for COVID-19 at Beijing Railway Station. Getty

On the 20th day of a lockdown in France, a cemetery, exceptionally open for Palm Sunday, April 5. AFP

As companies around the world close factories, shops and offices, planes sit idly on the tarmac and millions around the world stay home to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, air pollution and co2 emissions have decreased.

But while these “temporary” benefits are seen in clear skies over the usually smog-ridden Indian capital or in the satellite images of pollution data above the northern Italian powerhouse, the head of the United Nation’s Environment Programme has cautioned that it is not a “silver lining” of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Visible, positive impacts – whether through improved air quality or reduced greenhouse gas emissions – are but temporary, because they come on the back of tragic economic slowdown and human distress,” Inger Andersen wrote in an open letter this week.

She highlighted how the pandemic will lead to a massive increase in the amounts of medical and hazardous waste generated and said that studies point out that fossil fuel use would need to be cut by 10 per cent for an entire year to make a difference to the global carbon dioxide levels.

Therefore, she said, “any positive environmental impact in the wake of this abhorrent pandemic, must, therefore, be in our changing our production and consumption habits towards cleaner and greener.”

She said that the massive global financial rescue packages being rolled out also open the opportunity, once the pandemic has been brought under control, to bring in green and renewable development and spur systemic changes needed to tackle man-made climate change.

She also said that a cleaner, greener world will make humanity safer from viruses such as Covid-19.

“As we continue to encroach on fragile ecological ecosystems, we bring humans into ever-greater contact with wildlife,” she said. “Around 75 per cent of new and infectious diseases are zoonotic [pathogens that transfer from animals to humans].”

“The better we manage nature, the better we manage human health,” Ms Andersen wrote.  “An important pillar in our post-Covid recovery plan must be to arrive at an ambitious, measurable and inclusive framework, because keeping nature-rich, diverse and flourishing is part and parcel of our life’s support system."