The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and WRI hosted a series of global dialogues on how the world can respond to the COVID-19 economic crisis in ways that align with the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.
The COVID-19 crisis provides an early glimpse of how the climate and biodiversity crises will afect the world. The impacts of the pandemic and economic lockdown have led to a stark decline in development gains, disproportionately afecting low-income and vulnerable households, communities, and countries. Disparities have sharpened within countries and between developed and developing countries; the latter has experienced a “perfect storm” of unemployment, capital fight, loss of remittances, and increasing debt leading to the largest economic contraction in decades. Though slower in onset, the climate and biodiversity crises will ultimately be deeper and broader in impact, undercutting our ability to achieve the SDGs. Moreover, these crises are interlinked; the shrinking space between natural and human systems is one of the root causes for zoonotic pandemics.
This report provides a summary of the major conclusions from the Global Dialogue series. It includes a glimpse at what countries are already doing to pave the way for a green COVID-19 recovery, the path ahead, and how governments can propel the transition in key sectors. Summaries of each of the five sessions are also available for download: