Corporate DispatchPro CLAIRE HOLLIER
Economic recovery compatibility with the re-launch of the European Green Deal The COVID-19 pandemic has revived our reliance on single-use plastics notably polystyrene. The way people and industries have faced the pandemic was to prioritize hygiene over environmental concerns - at least under panic mode. According to Bloomberg, two major companies that make polystyrene products, Ineos Styrolution and Trinseo, have seen ‘double-digit percentage sales increases in the food packaging and health-care industries’ through February, March and April 2020. As some industry leaders told Bloomberg, they suspect the trend will abate once the pandemic ends. Similarly, amidst the pandemic, in terms of policy prioritization, climate change policy took the back bench and became secondary to health and economic policies. However, despite the COVID-19 crisis, the urgency of climate change mitigation has not dissolved. Far from it – though there is an increased perception that economic recovery post-COVID would come at the expense of positive climate neutral actions and risk a heavy blow to efforts to ‘bend the curve’ of greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Notoriously, the Czech Republic and Romania called for scrapping the Green Deal to divert the funds towards supporting national economies and health systems. On the same lines, Poland suggested to discontinue the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) from next year onwards. Such calls and suggestions to scrap existing climate policies and strategies, fall short of farsightedness. It is not like climate change has vanished or been resolved with coronavirus. 13
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