This may be of interest too for some of you, copied in below my signature,
The Open Forum: COVID-19 Can Help Wealthier Nations Prepare for a Sustainability Transition Take care everybody! Ans --- Ans Kolk | Full Professor | Amsterdam Business School | University of Amsterdam | Plantage Muidergracht 12, 1018 TV Amsterdam - The Netherlands | E. [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> | W. www.anskolk.eu <http://www.anskolk.eu> From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > On Behalf Of Cohen, Maurie Sent: Saturday, 21 March 2020 15:00 To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: Open Forum: COVID-19 Can Help Wealthier Nations Prepare for a Sustainability Transition Apologies for X-posting; feel free to forward Open Forum: COVID-19 Can Help Wealthier Nations Prepare for a Sustainability Transition Dear Colleagues, Most attention to date regarding COVID-19 has justifiably focused on the public health dimensions of the pandemic which have already been dire in a number of countries and are likely to become more challenging as it continues its march around the world. We extend our deepest sympathy to colleagues on the frontlines of the outbreak, to people who have suffered losses, and to everyone subjected to profound disruption. However, if we look a little further down the road, might there be emerging a window of opportunity to alter the trajectory of global development with respect to consumption and lifestyles, especially in relatively affluent countries? We invite you to join us for an open forum on how the outbreak might contribute to a sustainability transition. When: March 26th, Thursday, 2020 Japan Singapore Amsterdam London New York San Francisco 21:00 (9pm) 20:00 (8pm) 13:00 (1pm) 12:00 (Noon) 8:00 (8am) 5:00 (5am) RSVP here: <https://eur04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.gle%2FW6nhV576KafenJdZ6&data=02%7C01%7CJ.E.M.Kolk%40uva.nl%7C15081bd9160c458c2f8308d7cda8eb08%7Ca0f1cacd618c4403b94576fb3d6874e5%7C1%7C0%7C637203997693475623&sdata=T%2BGJ2th%2BKKyLfzwTNeaunE58XULQLCuZG63oSHdVmoM%3D&reserved=0> https://forms.gle/W6nhV576KafenJdZ6 As the COVID-19 pandemic touches every aspect of modern society, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the slowdowns and shutdowns may inadvertently enable us to shape a new conception of prosperity and good livelihood. We may even come out of this unfortunate episode with renewed fortitude and commitment to work toward the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. And since we are all living through this unique moment, observing the responses by government, businesses, and ordinary people, it marks an opportune time to explore if these changes can provide leverage points for opening pathways to a sustainability transition. Building from the points discussed in a recent Future Earth blog post ( <https://eur04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffutureearth.org%2F2020%2F03%2F13%2Fcovid-19-can-help-wealthier-nations-prepare-for-a-sustainability-transition%2F&data=02%7C01%7CJ.E.M.Kolk%40uva.nl%7C15081bd9160c458c2f8308d7cda8eb08%7Ca0f1cacd618c4403b94576fb3d6874e5%7C1%7C0%7C637203997693475623&sdata=wcTWV9OjbhQ%2F%2FTdvj8lT1yiNSwPzk%2BRVt06D%2FbhnEmY%3D&reserved=0> here), we would like to jumpstart a conversation on how COVID-19 could catalyze social changes that enable us to overcome customary routines and business-as-usual patterns of activity. We will see many adjustments—some good and some less so—being implemented in coming weeks and months. What are the opportunities for “locking in” those changes that can contribute to a more prosperous and equitable future. Points of departure for this conversation might include: -Working hours, work itself, and universal basic income -Downshifting mobility and virtual communication -Shifts in production technologies and routines (Industry 4.0) -Restructured supply chains and economic localization -A return to the fundamentals of home economics and notions of sufficiency -More! Please let us know if you are interested in joining the conversation by RSVPing here: <https://eur04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.gle%2FW6nhV576KafenJdZ6&data=02%7C01%7CJ.E.M.Kolk%40uva.nl%7C15081bd9160c458c2f8308d7cda8eb08%7Ca0f1cacd618c4403b94576fb3d6874e5%7C1%7C0%7C637203997693485617&sdata=jcVFXvJNpDXYnT%2Bc8bLDgSjID3euk0z2xOCYGSLIYSQ%3D&reserved=0> https://forms.gle/W6nhV576KafenJdZ6 Hope to see you online! Maurie Cohen, Joseph Sarkis, Patrick Schroeder, Magnus Bengtsson, Steven McGreevy, and Paul Dewick on behalf of the Future Earth Knowledge-Action Network on <https://eur04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffutureearth.org%2Fnetworks%2Fknowledge-action-networks%2Fsystems-of-sustainable-consumption-and-production%2F&data=02%7C01%7CJ.E.M.Kolk%40uva.nl%7C15081bd9160c458c2f8308d7cda8eb08%7Ca0f1cacd618c4403b94576fb3d6874e5%7C1%7C0%7C637203997693485617&sdata=DWyTZFHNX%2B4taBNjukeiUZMAnAgEQvWTnqyiFadX7Hg%3D&reserved=0> Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Jennifer Allan Sent: Monday, 23 March 2020 09:49 To: [email protected] Cc: Gep-Ed ([email protected]) <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [gep-ed] what is going on in the world? Hi everyone, There is a media effect here of course. The Conversation UK said no to a pitch I made about holding a virtual COP (a ridiculous idea being floated here in the UK by people that have clearly never been to a COP). Despite this idea being considered in the Guardian and Independent, the Environment Editor said "there's little on climate these days because we're all doing COVID." Hopefully BAU can start to re-emerge in the coming months. Best, Jen On Mon, Mar 23, 2020 at 1:51 AM Gernot Wagner <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Indeed plenty of other news still happening -- from locust plagues in East Africa to 65% oil price drops to continued Trumpian shenanigans. All that said, shouldn't Covid refocus the sort of stuff we are, in fact, following? I realize all of us experience Covid-19 rather differently -- full disclosure: I'm married to an NYU Langone/Bellevue doc, a place that'll get swamped with thousands of cases in the coming days. But I'd think up to ~30% US unemployment this quarter, ~50% quarterly GDP drop, etc. etc. -- to say nothing of, well, people dying -- would surely change what we do. There's the immediate term: None of us should pretend to be epidemiologists -- that's what Twitter is for -- but all of us have some relevant skills. E.g. a couple enviro/natural resource economist colleagues just wrote a paper within a week <https://twitter.com/GernotWagner/status/1241484673458593793> on critical child care needs of medical staff. Their prior medical/child care expertise: none. They just had the idea and knew how to get and analyze the data. Then, of course, there's the longer term. We've all heard the Milton (& Rose!) Friedman quote around how actions taken in a crisis “depend on the ideas that are lying around.” Well, that Friedman quote doesn't go the other way. I trust there'll be plenty of ideas generated B.C. (Before Covid) that will withstand the test of time. Many won't. We won't all agree what that means. In fact, I trust very few of us have spent much time on that so far (see: saving lives, now). But e.g. science denial might look rather different A.C., after millions having experienced some of the effects first-hand. I realize it's easier to teach sunk cost to undergrads than to go through it oneself and purge that multi-year research project, but I'd venture to say that, say, the B.C. results of that perfectly designed cross-country survey on attitudes toward revenue-neutral carbon taxes will feel more like a historical case study A.C. Gernot Wagner, New York University <http://gwagner.com/> gwagner.com Keep in touch: <http://gwagner.com/#newsletter> gwagner.com/#newsletter On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 9:36 PM Pam Chasek <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: And for those of you focused on domestic environmental issues: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-environment-coronavirus_n_5e755cf7c5b63c3b6490a703?fbclid=IwAR3k--1qKMx-PzdUgqjedVCyrm3aeb2TBTA2v9ahOPp6p456qzrWXy6LYk4 Pam On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 8:32 PM DG Webster <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: BBC and al Jazeera are slightly better at tracking other news, but not by much. On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 5:08 PM Wendy Jackson <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: To answer your second question, I think it depends on the government department in question. I work for a foreign ministry (NZ), and almost all hands are on deck for COVID-19 response. Most countries are having massive consular emergencies, trying to get nationals back home, responding to questions from in-country non-nationals, navigating all of the border complexities (think of people transiting countries, families with mixed residency status, etc.). I cannot speak for all governments, but here this effort is requiring resource from across the business. This has an impact on all work being done; we have people backfilling, and backfilling the backfilling, but some work is indefinitely postponed. Every govt department will be affected in its own way (sorting economic packages for business; dealing with tourists who are still here; sorting out school policy; ensuring food and other supply chains are stable; etc.). I work on a multilateral desk (UN relationship management), and BAU has slowed to a trickle. As Pam noted, UN meetings are being scaled down, postponed, or cancelled. Some processes related to those meetings (e.g., informals, regional consultations) are happening, although at a slower pace. Multilats are also shifting their focus to COVID-19 matters - how this manifests will vary by each agency. Apologies for writing in haste but hopefully a view from a government is helpful. Wendy On Mon, Mar 23, 2020 at 12:38 PM Peter M Haas <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Has anyone got any suggested feeds that cover all the other issues that we used to study? Has the media become corona obsessive, or have governments and other actors stopped business as usual? I regularly follow the FT, NYT, WP, FP, and nada. Peter M Haas Professor & Graduate Program Director 514 Thompson Hall Department of Political Science UMASS Amherst Amherst MA 01003 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/1d1b01d600a2%24f1b98ea0%24d52cabe0%24%40polsci.umass.edu <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/1d1b01d600a2%24f1b98ea0%24d52cabe0%24%40polsci.umass.edu?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> . -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAKu%3Do17%2BTdZS7ucQLSXiNHqgK6xYVwGCJdbE%3D8F9cjWaYKZHaQ%40mail.gmail.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAKu%3Do17%2BTdZS7ucQLSXiNHqgK6xYVwGCJdbE%3D8F9cjWaYKZHaQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> . -- D.G. Webster Associate Professor Environmental Studies Program Dartmouth College 6182 Steele Hall Hanover, NH 03755 phone: 603-646-0213 http://sites.dartmouth.edu/websterlab -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAKPQqY6DAEWG1Qs9k%3DdKVAHFtzXCirU20x%2BnhTM1b0VyG948Zw%40mail.gmail.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAKPQqY6DAEWG1Qs9k%3DdKVAHFtzXCirU20x%2BnhTM1b0VyG948Zw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> . -- Pamela Chasek, Ph.D. Professor and Chair, Political Science Department Manhattan College 4513 Manhattan College Parkway Riverdale, NY 10471 USA Phone: +1-718-862-7248 Fax: +1-718-862-8044 <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] <http://www.manhattan.edu/> www.manhattan.edu -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAH09KvFdAnB1JYv5y7Ve-9EnFhjXStcUhGJr8z1-F7prPUd5pg%40mail.gmail.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAH09KvFdAnB1JYv5y7Ve-9EnFhjXStcUhGJr8z1-F7prPUd5pg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> . -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAJK3vz1eVhcTWTKX6i7cDUYxrbfbB57x8cDhSouPZ_ts58%3DZ-g%40mail.gmail.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAJK3vz1eVhcTWTKX6i7cDUYxrbfbB57x8cDhSouPZ_ts58%3DZ-g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> . -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. 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