Covid-19 has exposed the fragile human-environment interactions which are frequently obscured by much of modern life. A zoonotic disease, it has made us more aware that we are part of nature – not separate from it. And lock-down has enabled many to reconnect with their local natural environment.
However, Covid-19 is not alone in making us reassess the relationship between nature and humanity. Before the pandemic struck, concerns around climate change had risen rapidly in the public consciousness, particularly amongst young people. Awareness that carbon emissions have real world impacts on people as well as planet was increasing, with the floods in Yorkshire and the Midlands this past February making this tangible in a very real way. The connections between environmental health and social and economic wellbeing were becoming clearer. Yet we were still not properly listening, as many young people consistently – and rightly – told us.
Given the affordability challenges being faced by many across the country as a result of Covid-19, a short-term focus is in many ways understandable. However, unless we learn the environmental, economic and social lessons from the pandemic, there is a real risk that a ‘build back better’ recovery will still not be truly sustainable. The wellbeing of our citizens and communities will still be threatened by increasingly disrupted ecosystems and extreme, dangerous and unpredictable weather. When the effective functioning of society and our individual and collective livelihoods are at stake, short-term consumer interests must surely be trumped by measures to secure the wellbeing of future generations.
But given the fast moving and dynamic environment, and the fact that change is not always linear, getting this right is challenging. And institutional change can take just too long. Deciding who should lead on what – government, regulators, companies, civil society groups and individuals - can be difficult at the best of times. In a crisis, where the to do list grows by the day and implementation is in the spotlight, it is even harder. But waiting it out for stability and clarity may just exacerbate the problems we face and potentially severely reduce optionality if natural systems are pushed beyond their brink.
So what can policy makers and regulators do to speed the changes needed to secure a truly sustainable future while the clock is ticking?
Below is a possible set of sustainability principles to help guide decision-making as we come out of the corona crisis and navigate towards a more resilient future. These principles are primarily designed to help the economic policy makers and regulators whose work shapes the key building blocks of the economy, such as public utilities and other essential services, but they clearly have wider applicability:
Focus on the wellbeing of the next generation – crucial for the survival of all species, and top of the list. In economic terms, this means paying due regard to long-term interests, recognising resilience and understanding the value of things, not just the cost. Sustaining natural life support systems such that they continue to function effectively into the future is a pre-condition for this. Without them, humanity is lost.
The precautionary principle should be enshrined as a duty of environmental and social care in all decision making as this is the key to avoiding dependency on activities and unnatural substances that permanently disadvantage all future life.
Systems thinking. Siloed thinking in government departments and sector regulators means they can struggle to deal with this complexity. The Covid-19 experience has constantly demonstrated the disruptive effects of non-systems approaches to connected decision making. This principle requires policy makers and regulators to focus on desired outcomes and understand and act on boundary issues and interdependencies through identifying common ground and co-benefits.
Recognise that change is constant and adaptation crucial – recent moves towards adaptive policy and regulation are warmly welcomed. As we will always struggle with feast, famine, droughts and floods, some redundancy in the system is needed to help us adapt to extremes and cope with new challenges. All this requires judgement, hard work, patience and practice. Innovation is of course essential, but it needs to be integral to policy and regulatory thinking, not a bolt on activity.
Diversification is a source of strength. Applying this in practice to economic thinking from the top of government down to local communities, and from policy makers to regulatory and corporate boards, is key to provide the flexibility needed to deal with change. For it to be meaningful, it requires stakeholder engagement and taking account of a range of perspectives, including at the local, regional and devolved levels. Absent this, navigating uncertainty is far more challenging.
Circularity – nature is the great recycler, and nothing is wasted. Policy makers and regulators need to consider how their decisions can help design in circular and zero waste/emissions solutions. And crucially, how to honestly learn the lessons from what works and what doesn’t. This is the great test of any post Covid-19 economy. Right now, we are nowhere near circularity.
Fundamental changes to our systems and institutions are essential to ensure a more sustainable and resilient future for people and planet. Let’s start by not wasting this crisis by ignoring some of the lessons that are right in front of us. Fashioning and adopting a new set of sustainability principles in economic policy and regulation would be a good place to start.
Sharon Darcy is Director of Sustainability First a think-tank and charity that seeks to promote environmental, social and economic wellbeing in public utilities.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Bright Blue.