Fight coronavirus, Climate Change simultaneously – IES

Climate Change poses the same threats on the economy just as the Coronavirus pandemic, hence the two must be dealt at the same time, the Institute of Energy Security (IES), has said.

A statement by the IES said on Thursday May 21 that governments around the world are saddled with the huge task even now and after the pandemic have been brought under control, to rescue their economies and the global economy from recession, and produce measures that can ensure a more resilient and effective responses in the future.

While Governments takes extreme measures to limit both human cost and economic disruption attributed to the virus, now and the future, the IES said, they must be mindful that the lockdowns and distancing may not necessarily be able to save the world from warming, and that there is a climate crisis.

“The world therefore has one opportunity to fight two crisis simultaneously to save future troubles, and build a better future.

“Even as we count the human losses from COVID-19, we must also pause and remind ourselves that there are both financial and human losses attributed to climate change too.,” it said.

The statement explained that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has become one of the biggest threats to the global economy and financial markets.

The effect has already been felt in a wide range of energy markets, including coal and gas – but its impact on oil markets is exceptionally grave due to the constraint on people and goods from moving around, thus heavily impacting transport fuels demand. This may predominantly real in China, the largest energy consumer in the world, which the Energy Information Administration (EIA) says accounted for more than 80 percent of global oil demand growth last year.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest oil market forecast suggests that global oil demand in 2020 has dropped around 90,000 barrels a day from 2019; against a February forecast, which predicted global oil demand would grow by 825,000 barrels a day in 2020. Also the price of oil is down by over 58 percent this year, on the back of what Rystad Energy sees as lower oil demand and slower expected economic growth.

Aside the energy market, the pandemic is having a damaging economic and business impact, affecting everything from tourism to the supply of parts to the automotive and technology industries.