22 August 2020: Staycation Update

The number of new infections continues to fall. We’re down to an average of 506 people that tested positive for Covid-19 in Belgium. Whilst we are trying to manage the economic fallout of the pandemic the debate about climate change gains traction again. The popular notion that the COVID-19 pandemic has been “good for the environment” - that nature is recovering while we are all staying at home - appeals to many of us grasping for some upside to the global corona crisis. In April, with shutdown being widespread, the daily global carbon emissions were down by 17 percent. But what will happen as soon as the restrictions are released? Will we go right back to where we were? The health and economic crises could pull our attention away from the slower-moving disaster of climate change, which had finally been moving up the political agenda last year as youth strikes drove home its urgency. Will governments seek to shore up the economy by bolstering old, polluting industries, or embrace calls for a “green stimulus” and use recovery funds to create jobs in sectors such as clean power and energy efficiency? An opportunity we shouldn’t miss out on. On display today is a picture of the Centrale in Ghent: the urban power plant that was put cold in the 80’s – Nieuwe Dokken, Ghent, Belgium.