Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Former US vice-president Al Gore warns that Covid-19 makes it harder to tackle some climate change effects

SINGAPORE — Former United States vice-president Al Gore on Friday (July 24) warned that the Covid-19 pandemic is making it harder to address the effects of climate change, such as when natural disasters strike.

SIngapore's inaugural climate rally held at Hong Lim Park in September 2019.

SIngapore's inaugural climate rally held at Hong Lim Park in September 2019.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

  • Mr Gore said Covid-19 is exacerbating disaster relief efforts as rescuers try to ensure social distancing
  • Rescuers faced these challenges after a cyclone hit India and Bangladesh earlier this year
  • Mr Gore also cited studies that show air pollution causes higher Covid-19 mortality rates

 

SINGAPORE — Former United States vice-president Al Gore on Friday (July 24) warned that the Covid-19 pandemic is making it harder to address the effects of climate change, such as when natural disasters strike.

This is because governments will have to mount disaster relief efforts while ensuring that rescue workers adhere to safe distancing and mask wearing, he said at a virtual panel hosted by DBS Bank as part of its two-day Asia Insights Conference.

He noted that some of these problems have already been observed in India and Bangladesh, which were struck by Cyclone Amphan earlier this year.

He added that the US authorities anticipate having to tackle similar problems this year as the US government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency has predicted a bad hurricane season in the coming months.

“The evacuations are going to be significant and (having to) shelter people in close proximity during the pandemic is going to create a lot of problems,” said Mr Gore.

Climate scientists have long warned that the warming climate is causing more frequent and more severe disasters such as hurricanes, major storms and bushfires.

Mr Gore is a long-time advocate of taking urgent action to address climate change. His efforts to educate people about global warming were the subject of the critically acclaimed 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. 

During Friday's one-hour dialogue session, titled “Climate Change and the Great Reset”, Mr Gore delivered a 20-minute speech about the urgency of the climate crisis before fielding questions from DBS Group Holdings chief executive Piyush Gupta.

Mr Gore also highlighted the multiple studies which have shown that greater air pollution increases mortality rates in areas hit by the pandemic.

He cited a study from the Harvard School of Public Health which found that individuals living in US counties with higher fine particulate pollution are eight per cent more likely to die from the coronavirus than those who live in a county with less air pollution.

Another study, which surveyed 324 Chinese cities, also found a close statistical correlation between the amount of air pollution in each city and the rate of Covid-19 infections, the severity of the infections and the death rates.

Given this, and threats such as rising sea levels and the growing population of climate refugees (people forced from their homes due to drastic climatic changes), Mr Gore reiterated his calls for governments worldwide to take urgent action against climate change.

While he acknowledged that the pandemic has reduced emissions globally as international travel has come to a virtual halt and movement control measures worldwide have altered consumption patterns, he emphasised that the drop is only temporary and emissions are likely to return to pre-Covid levels once countries bounce back from the pandemic.

Mr Gore said that this is what happened after the global financial crisis in 2008, when there was an initial 1 per cent decline in emissions.

“But as soon as the recovery from the recession started, emissions went back up again and went even higher than they were before the great recession,” he said.

Therefore, governments need to embark on a “green transition”, said Mr Gore, by investing in renewable energy sources over fossil fuels, developing a robust clean energy infrastructure and investing in clean research and development, among other things.

Not only will this help to create a more sustainable and efficient society, he said, but it will also aid in creating both short- and long-term jobs which will be needed as countries recover from the Covid-19 crisis.

He added that the efficacy of such measures has already been observed in the US where the fastest growing jobs are solar panel installers and wind turbine technicians.

Mr Gore also cited a recent study by the Oxford Review of Economic Policy which found that green investments generated almost three times the number of jobs as investments in the fossil fuel industry.

‘GRETA THUNBERG GENERATION’ RENEWED CLIMATE MOVEMENT

During the dialogue segment of the panel, Mr Gupta posed a question on why it took so long for governments and individuals to act on the climate crisis.

In response, Mr Gore said it still remains a “challenge to the world’s imagination” to transition to renewable energy sources, as fossil fuels still provide more than 80 per cent of the energy used in the global economy.

It is also only recently that the anti-climate lobby in countries such as the US and Australia have begun losing ground as more people become aware of the urgency of tackling climate change.

He raised the example of the younger generation — whom he called the “Greta Thunberg generation” after the Swedish teenage activist — who have given a “renewed boost” to the climate movement, which has gained momentum in recent times.

On whether the Covid-19 pandemic has also helped people recognise the merits of accepting short term pain — such as the nationwide lockdowns implemented in various countries worldwide — in return for long term rewards, Mr Gore agreed that this is one of the takeaways from the coronavirus outbreak.

He added that another lesson he hopes people will take away is that there is value in listening to the scientists who are warning of dire consequences that lie ahead if immediate action is not taken on a serious problem.

“In this case epidemiologists and virologists have given us very clear and dire warnings that there is danger ahead. We should pay attention to them,” he said.

“Climate scientists have been warning us for much longer and in even more dire terms and people are thinking: ‘Well maybe we should pay attention to them too’.”

Related topics

climate change Al Gore Covid-19 coronavirus

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.