We’ve Learned from COVID, Now Let’s Fight Climate Change

Canadians are hoping to surface sometime this year from the pandemic. We know it won’t be a clean break. Outbreaks will continue. New variants will arise. But all going well, we’ll have the science, the machinery and the logistics in place to contain and manage it. Much longer will be the economic, social and personal recovery, and as it comes it will be into a different world. Very different from what we have known.

What can we expect? The arrival of climate change’s full impact. COVID-19 would have forced us into major life changes even if climate change was not at hand. But it is. Now the question is what lessons we can draw from our pandemic experience for engaging climate change, which, without a doubt, is the most serious global crisis humanity is facing.

COVID-19 has shown that human beings have the organizational, scientific and technical knowledge and skills to mobilize resources and mount massive responses in remarkably short periods of time.

Important too is how the pandemic has been revealed to have a disproportionate impact on people who are poor, racialized, marginalized and vulnerable. At long last issues of fairness and equity are coming to the fore. Some of these inequities are being acted on in the unhesitating actions of our governments to get financial resources and services out to people and organizations — mostly mindful of “who is most in need?”

There have been glitches, mistakes and confusion. But the pandemic has focused the minds of our governors and bureaucrats with single-minded purpose.

We, the public, have done our part as well. Yes, with some grumbling, and with some outlier resistance, but Canadians as a whole have come together to accept what each of us must do to contain this virus. We have demonstrated pot-banging support for our frontline workers, we have lobbied and advocated for improvements, we have spontaneously set up support groups. In short, we are demonstrating remarkable resilience in our personal and community lives.

The impacts of climate change will demand similar responses from each of us, from our public authorities, from community and civil society, from organized labour and from business.

There are many lessons from COVID-19 that are relevant. Here are a few from my list:

1. Government communications. Make every effort to provide the public with information that is clear and factual. Acknowledge that due to the urgency of the crisis, information is subject to continuous change as experience is gained and knowledge acquired. Ensure there are emergency communications protocols in place that can reach all Canadians as crises arise.

2. Government policy planning. Use or create policy bodies at the cabinet level that are interdisciplinary and that have the authority, flexibility and nimbleness to formulate timely plans. Always test for how these will work on the ground.

3. Government policy implementation. Have specifically created bodies with the authority to implement policies across departments and to share information about their work and what they are learning. For example, in 1939 the federal government established the Wartime Prices and Trades Board to contribute to the successful mobilization of public and private sector policies and resources to control inflation and to support the war effort.

4. Public resources allocation. Organize public finances to support cross-departmental collaboration. For example, in the early 2000s Vancouver, the B.C. government and Ottawa created the Vancouver Agreement to co-ordinate policies, finances and programs regarding the Downtown Eastside.

5. Cross­-political party collaboration: Bring all the parties together in crisis planning and supervision. Perhaps something like the 2017 Confidence and Supply Agreement between the BC Green Party and BC NDP caucuses, which set out the terms of collaboration in a minority government situation.

6. Establish the over-arching priorities and standards for programs. Allow for flexibility in the local application of programs to ensure they accommodate local realities.

7. Provide a measure of authority and resources to communities to create activities and design innovations that will work locally.

8. Support the community (civil society, labour, business) in local planning, decision-making and implementation — and in providing information, back up the line about policy and program effectiveness.

9. Establish systems of accountability and evaluation at all levels and share their work openly with the public. These systems should pay particular attention to fairness and equity in public policies and programs, working to reduce gaps in society.

10. Recognize where good work is happening, applaud it and share it.

These steps can help build public confidence that political and administrative systems are working the way they should, with competence and responsiveness. They will strengthen public tolerance that allows a margin for mistakes. They will motivate citizens to do “their part.”

There are other important contributors to public confidence and well-being during crises. Arts and culture and sports provide essential outlets for expression and for mental and physical well-being. Both deserve significant public and private support.

Finally, as citizens in a democratic society there are two means that are within our own control that will help us cope and influence how crises impact us. One is the ability and freedom to volunteer and organize ourselves into groups for mutual help, to share talents and skills in working together, to monitor for injustices in the public and private sectors, and to advocate for enlightened public policies and programs. This is building community resilience.

The other is in the relationships we have with one another. Every day we can express respect and civility in our interpersonal transactions, and in every commercial and public exchange. These set the climate for which trust, collaboration and co-operation are possible. As Canadians, we have a lot of experience in these “habits of the heart.” Climate change requires us to call on them like never before.