• Climate Change

EU COVID Recovery Plans Make Investments In Climate Change; China Remains in Neutral

• China
• climate change
• COVID-19
• European Union
• recovery
• stimulus

The European Union announced its $825 billion recovery package for the coronavirus pandemic late last week and it includes big plans to address climate change as intrinsic to its economic recovery.

Why This Matters:  Only when we shut down the economies of the developed world due to the life or death threat of the pandemic did we see global greenhouse gas emissions reductions necessary for the foreseeable future.

• Climate Change

First Japan Underwhelmed, Now China May Be Late Announcing Their National Climate Plans

• #climatecrisis
• #ParisAccord
• Biden
• China
• conservation
• environment
• Joe Biden
• NDCs

Due to the coronavirus-induced economic slowdown, Climate Home News and then Axios reported that China is delaying the release of its revised plans for how it will update its Paris Agreement targets until at least after the U.S. Presidential election.

Why This Matters:  The coronavirus cannot be an excuse to lower climate ambitions, instead it must be seen as an opportunity to elevate them.

• Health

Coronavirus: NYT’s Weekend Bombshell

• #COVID19
• China
• coronavirus

Over the weekend, the New York Times published a devastating in-depth look into how President Trump repeatedly ignored warnings from his own administration officials and wasted precious time responding to the spread of COVID-19. While other media outlets have published similar stories about the delayed response, the Times revealed the level of dysfunction that exists […]

• Animals

Vietnam Joins China in Taking Steps To End Wildlife Trade to Help Prevent Future Pandemics

• biodiversity
• China
• COVID-19
• habitat
• pandemic
• SARs
• Vietnam
• wildlife trade

China has taken “concrete steps” to close its “wet” or wildlife markets and now Vietnam is following suit, according to Sierra, the magazine of the environmental group The Sierra Club. 

Why This Matters:  The world has faced many major pandemics, such as SARS and now COVID-19, that are believed to have been spread from human contact with wild animals.

• Health

Coronavirus: US Takes the Lead in COVID-19 Cases

• China
• coronavirus
• COVID-19

After scientists warned that the United States would become the hardest-hit country by the coronavirus crisis, we now lead the world in confirmed cases of COVID-19 with over 86,000 people infected. While New York City is still the hardest hit area, cases are exploding in New Orleans–where the virus is thought to have been brought […]

• Air

One Less Thing: China’s Air Pollution Thanks to Coronavirus Shutdowns

• China
• coronavirus
• COVID-19
• nitrogen-dioxide

NASA released satellite images yesterday that make apparent the impact of the coronavirus on air pollution in China — and the good news is that the factory shutdowns made the air across the entire country of China — particularly over Wuhan — much cleaner.  NASA released a statement explaining that the maps above show concentrations […]