The other crisis.

Byline: Rimmel Mohydin

THERE is a longing to return to 'normal.' We wistfully think back to the beginning of the year, marvel at how none of us could have predicted this and count down the days to when things can go back to the way they were.

Except that 'normal' was directly leading us to our utter destruction.

The climate crisis now runs a calendar in Pakistan. From December to February, the country will face extreme cold. From May to August, searing heatwaves, droughts and floods. After October, we find ourselves choking on toxic smog. Each year, the damage grows exponentially. Each time, there is an opportunity to do something about it.

The Covid-19 crisis has upended even the best-laid plans. There are worsening socioeconomic ramifications every day, bringing to the fore pre-existing structural inequalities and injustices that violate human rights. It has dominated global public discourse, making it very easy to deprioritise other problems because no one is talking about them.

The lockdowns gave rise to a neat illusion. Reports of improved air quality could only catch up with what we could see outside our windows. Animals began returning to urban centres. Countless online posts stated that 'nature was healing'. Then the headlines of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions came. It created this idea that perhaps we were in the process of mitigating the climate crisis.

Environmental protections are being rolled back.

Sadly, that mirage is nothing more than a trick of the light and global temperatures continue to be on the rise. Distraction from the issue does not make it go away.

What is even more concerning is that the most carbon-polluting countries are using pandemic-induced distraction to roll back environmental protections, unduly delay climate action, or entrench fossil fuel dependency. President Trump, who governs one of the highest emitting countries in the world has already eased fuel-efficiency standards for new cars, frozen rules for soot air pollution and is leasing public property to oil and gas companies. In Brazil, the administration of President Bolsonaro has accelerated deforestation of the Amazon forest. China has also dropped a key measurement on energy conservation that is used to qualify progress towards tackling the climate crisis.

At a time when countries are guided increasingly by self-centric policies, and individuals must be confined to our homes to the extent possible, the need to come together is critical...