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Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Document Type

Symposium Article

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis have many parallels. Both are large disruptive events that pose foundational threats to humanity through the capacity to cause substantial harm and death to humans. Both pose complex and multifaceted challenges perpetuated by multiple factors that are difficult to interrupt or mitigate. Both are subject to evolving scientific understandings of their underlying causes and potential interventions. Both are novel challenges not previously faced by most humans alive today that comprise potential threats to human society over an extended time period. These similarities allow scholars and policymakers to extrapolate and understand how the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic could inform responses to the much larger threat presented by the climate crisis.

These two crises differ in substantial ways as well. The COVID-19 pandemic arises from an infectious disease caused by the spread of a novel virus, while the climate crisis stems from the rampant accretion of carbon dioxide from the combustion and release of carbon-based fuels by humans. Addressing these primary causes will require very distinct technologies and strategies. Yet, many of the systemic conditions that need to be navigated for an effective response—particularly legal, political, and social factors that dictate the contours of what is possible in our society—are the same or similar for both crises. These crises also differ in scope and duration. The impact and length of the COVID-19 pandemic likely will be dwarfed by the climate crisis, which will impose severe impacts on human societies for generations to come.

Nevertheless, the lessons from the COVID-19 response can illuminate a path forward to more effectively address the challenges of the climate crisis. Successfully mitigating the future risks of the climate crisis will require learning from, and applying different approaches to, many of the same areas where the legal and political governance of the COVID-19 response faltered. The lessons of the COVID-19 response can act as both a cautionary tale and a roadmap for a better future response. This Article identifies areas where important legal and policy reforms can reverse failed approaches used during the COVID-19 response, build on successful COVID-19 response strategies, and yield better outcomes that can help pursue and secure climate justice going forward.

Successful adaptation to a warming climate will require significant changes to our society and the thoughtful, proactive application of law and policy that fosters inclusive governance and health equity. If we heed its lessons, the COVID-19 pandemic may provide us with insights to fortify our social support infrastructure, reorient our priorities, invest in forward-looking technological and social changes, and reinforce our imagination and our solidarity to render our society more adaptable to the risks—both expected and unexpected—that the future holds.

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