‘Visible, positive impacts are but temporary, because they come on the back of tragic economic slowdown and human distress’ Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UNEP

In a matter of months, the world has been transformed and life as we knew it has come to a grinding halt. While this is a difficult period for us, but what about the environment? How has the environment responded to this change?

At first, I thought the environment must have responded positively to this change. With extensive restrictions including travel restrictions that have left roads empty, factories quiet and skies, empty air quality has improved dramatically. In the UK the national shutdown has resulted in a considerable leap in air quality with measurements of toxic small particulate matter down by as much as 50 per cent in some major cities. Images of nature claiming back Venice canal with an octopus being the latest maritime creature to make an appearance are trending all over the internet. While humans seem to be suffering during this time, the environment appears to be recovering. 

Of course, this is only temporary; At the same time, some chose to call this the silver lining of the cloud that is Covid-19 because they believe this will finally force a significant change in living more environmentally friendly. I would have to agree with the environmental science and policy experts that Time writes as warning ‘any sustainable reduction in emissions and pollution will need to happen in a way that doesn’t totally splinter society’. 

What overshadows this, I believe, is the impact on waste and electricity consumption. The pandemic has resulted in an increase in the amounts of medical and hazardous waste generated. Not only this, but it has also changed how waste is collected, for example in my borough (and many others) waste is typically collected as ‘recycling’ and ‘general waste’ however under these circumstances everything is collected as ‘general waste’.