Category: COVID-19: A Blessing In Disguise For The Climate?

Air pollution is produced during the production and consumption of energy. The burning of fossil fuels contributes to 89% of global CO2 emissions. However, 300 of the top companies control that the majority of fossil fuel production and reserves are publicly listed companies. This calls into question who supplies their operations and what are their motivations. 

Turning to investor relations is key to understanding the central issue of environmental pollution. From 2016 to 2018, indices run by the 10 largest asset management groups increased from 20% to 120%. 2 Degrees Investing attributed that the increase in investors looking for indexes contributed to this rise. Nonetheless, during the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, oil and gas prices immediate trended upwards, with the prices of oil reaching almost $140 — the high of 2018.

COVID-19 and the prospect of money reveals a harsh truth — investors are more concerned about money than achieving and contributing to environmental goals. Greenwashing is a tactic used by companies to appear as if ESG goals are central to their management. 

Accusations of greenwashing will inevitably surface as the oil and gas industry attempts to re-establish trust with the now more environmentally conscious population. For instance, oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil was called out for spreading falsehoods so as to encourage continued support for natural gas. The 350 advertisements in New York alleged the high costs of replacing gas-powered appliances with electric ones; in contrast, it highlighted its efforts to sustain wind energy in Canada. 

Of course not all business strategies will be as blatant. Others will practice greenwashing tactically and float under environmentalists’ radars. These will be more difficult to uncover but hopefully investors and shareholders will hold their public listed companies accountable. 

Hopefully, the environmentalist agenda raised during the onset of the pandemic will continue to hold strong in the years to come. Combating air pollution requires long term commitment. Looking at investors and publicly listed companies shows the partnership needed to combat air pollution and find more sustainable practices in the usage and production of energy. 

Continuing on the positives of the COVID-19 pandemic on air pollution, a survey conducted by Bain Consulting Group in 2020 showed that after the onset of the pandemic, 70% of people are more aware that human activity threatens the climate. Air pollution was also ranked as the second most important issue.

Corporations also recognised the importance of strengthening their environmental agenda. Consulting firm Accenture researched on “Conscious Consumerism” which looks into how consumers alter their purchase decisions by seriously considering the possible environmental and societal impacts. They found that since the pandemic, 65% of consumers believed governments should support this Conscious Consumerism movement, 66% desired for more information to go about  sustainable shopping, and 23% were less brand loyal — especially for those aged 18-24 years old. From this research, it is clear that consumers wanted to understand how the production aspect of supply chains had an impact on the environment, air pollution included. 

For Singapore, the pandemic also opened the eyes of policymakers to the importance of reducing greenhouse gasses. Singapore strengthened its greenhouse reduction goals by reducing emissions by 36 per cent by 2030, using 2005 as a baseline. The Singapore Government also dished out a rather bold deadline which was to ban the sale of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles by 2030 and completely phase out ICE vehicles by 2040. 

A more committed drive towards EVs and hydrogen alternatives would also help to significantly reduce carbon emitted during transportation. Hydrogen-fuelled cars produce zero emissions and hydrogen is more economical in terms production and fuel economy as compared to electricity. The drawback is the massive revamp of the fuel ecosystem as new infrastructure is needed to store hydrogen fuel and hydrogen fuel stations. But the Singapore Government has strategically devoted hydrogen to mass transport such as busses and heavy vehicles where the economics are more sound. For a small country like Singapore, it is certainly punching above its weight by making strong commitments to reducing air pollution and protecting the environment. 

Nonetheless, maybe the air won’t be as clean in the near future. It remains somewhat unclear as to the global timeline for mass change in corporations environmental strategies and the adoption of hydrogen as a petrol alternatives. I am also aware that Singapore’s production of energy uses natural gas and is still not ‘clean’ compared to nuclear or solar power.

But hopefully starting from 2040, I can run alongside roads and not feel like I am gasping for oxygen among carbon emissions.

Continuing on the positives of the COVID-19 pandemic on air pollution, a survey conducted by Bain Consulting Group in 2020 showed that after the onset of the pandemic, 70% of people are more aware that human activity threatens the climate. Air pollution was also ranked as the second most important issue.

Corporations also recognised the importance of strengthening their environmental agenda. Consulting firm Accenture researched on “Conscious Consumerism” which looks into how consumers alter their purchase decisions by seriously considering the possible environmental and societal impacts. They found that since the pandemic, 65% of consumers believed governments should support this Conscious Consumerism movement, 66% desired for more information to go about sustainable shopping, and 23% were less brand loyal — especially for those aged 18-24 years old. From this research, it is clear that consumers wanted to understand how the production aspect of supply chains had an impact on the environment, air pollution included.

For Singapore, the pandemic also opened the eyes of policymakers to the importance of reducing greenhouse gasses. Singapore strengthened its greenhouse reduction goals by reducing emissions by 36 per cent by 2030, using 2005 as a baseline. The Singapore Government also dished out a rather bold deadline which was to ban the sale of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles by 2030 and completely phase out ICE vehicles by 2040.

A more committed drive towards EVs and hydrogen alternatives would also help to significantly reduce carbon emitted during transportation. Hydrogen-fuelled cars produce zero emissions and hydrogen is more economical in terms production and fuel economy as compared to electricity. The drawback is the massive revamp of the fuel ecosystem as new infrastructure is needed to store hydrogen fuel and hydrogen fuel stations. But the Singapore Government has strategically devoted hydrogen to mass transport such as busses and heavy vehicles where the economics are more sound. For a small country like Singapore, it is certainly punching above its weight by making strong commitments to reducing air pollution and protecting the environment.

Nonetheless, maybe the air won’t be as clean in the near future. It remains somewhat unclear as to the global timeline for mass change in corporations environmental strategies and the adoption of hydrogen as a petrol alternatives. I am also aware that Singapore’s production of energy uses natural gas and is still not ‘clean’ compared to nuclear or solar power.

But hopefully starting from 2040, I can run alongside roads and not feel like I am gasping for oxygen among carbon emissions.

I was browsing through news on COVID-19 and air pollution when this particular article caught my attention. The article by South China Morning Post talked about how COVID-19 had not only reduce air pollution in the short-term, but also extended the beneficial link to improved vegetation growth for the country.

At first glance, the link seemed tenuous.

But upon deeper research, it seemed like COVID-19 could have longer lasting impacts on climate change that we had initially thought.

According to a scientist research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, the reduction of human activity during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions resulted in an increase of a whopping 17% of the country’s leaf area coverage.

These numbers are pretty significant considering that the data was merely compared to the past 5 years.

According to them, the reduction in human activity and its concomitant reduction in air pollutants and particles forming a blockage allowed more radiation energy to reach the canopy. This then allowed vegetation growth to boom. 

Moreover on top of that, atmospheric pollutants also do have negative effects  on vegetation. They are toxic for the plants and can largely impact the rate of photosynthesis.

With lesser human-induced pollutants, this has become less of a problem and the greens have now taken over.

What does this then mean for climate change and for us?

Vegetation plays an incredibly crucial role in air quality management. They purify the air of toxic pollutants. Particularly, they reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide – which is a greenhouse gas – through the natural process of photosynthesis. In essence, vegetation is a huge part of our natural carbon storage that serves to regulate the world’s air quality. It seems to have created a positive feedback loop; where decreased air pollution increased vegetation cover which then further decreased air pollution and improve air quality.

Indeed, while the effects of COVID-19 have been argued to be short-lived and only temporary, its long-term effects as described above have yet to be thoroughly studied. 

Who knows? The unexpected saviour for the world’s air pollution woes could very well be our greens.