Planetary Betrayal: The Cost of Policy Failures from COVID to the Climate
Image Courtesy: Focus
In 2020, the pandemic placed the communication of political and scientific experts on a world stage. Chaos, mass-confusion and deathly delays arose because of the awkward relations between parliamentarians and scientists, culminating in ill-conceived policies. Society witnessed that even in crisis, governments fail to prioritise global solidarity over industrial interests.
In 2025, continuous threats to our health are on the horizon, specifically the climate emergency looms. The death-toll of climate-change is already substantial, yet, just as during the pandemic, policymakers are not acting to prevent climate catastrophe. The failures we saw during the pandemic mirror the obstructions that prevent systematic changes that may well alleviate the climate emergency.
A recent Nature investigation surveying science-policy specialists determined that 35% of respondents thought science-advice failures contributed to COVID-19 deaths. During the pandemic, the public beheld for the first time the complex mechanisms that mould science-policy. As scientific understanding evolves through continuous refinement, the pandemic was like watching scientists “build the plane while flying it”. Whilst governments sluggishly adapted to emerging information, the consequent ‘infodemic’ followed the outbreak of COVID-19 and we saw misinformation circulate at the speed of the virus. Similarly, we are exposed to grossly inaccurate climate facts that proliferate through our societies, percolating down from presidents themselves.
COVID-19 Vaccine inequity represented another systematic failure. When international cooperation was urgently required, pharmaceutical patents were protected more stringently than ever. To that end, countries in the global south lacked the means to procure vaccinations and immunise their populations. The deep-rooted inequalities exposed in the pandemic are alike to the apathetic attitudes adopted by the wealthy nations that instigated the climate emergency.
As the deadline for the WHO pandemic accords approaches, the world watches eagerly to discern if countries can sufficiently collaborate. Organisers say the agreement is “an opportunity that humanity cannot afford to miss” but the accusations hurled by social justice organisations deny that wealthy nations have learned the lessons offered by the pandemic.
Post-pandemic amnesia has taken root, but the acceleration of the climate crisis persists. The changing climate is incriminated in bringing about the spread of COVID-19 and experts say another pandemic is “absolutely inevitable”. The glimmers of a greener world have soothed us slightly, such as the gift of a 17% reduction in carbon emissions during 2020. Though no evidence indicates we are nearing the peak of carbon emissions, we remain seriously behind on net zero delivery and climate super-contributors routinely fail to set legally binding targets.
The pandemic hammered home that political bias and economic interests prevent rapid action, and that global inaction is completely terrifying. The political will to confront the fossil fuel industry is lacking and science-led solutions are habitually ignored. Coming up on five years since COVID-19, the time for recovery is over and we must focus on implementing the truths it revealed in order to prevent further global disaster.