It is important that we plan for changes in public policy and financial investment rather than forego the opportunity because of a lack of timely action. The post-crisis period will afford rare circumstances to shift supply and production systems toward a more desirable state. We see a window of opportunity for accelerating sustainability transitions in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic ( EEA, 2019 European Commission, 2019 Cohen, 2020). For instance, China invested heavily in a stimulus package that included a significant focus on renewable energy and this build up precipitated growth in relevant industries and reductions in production costs that benefited companies and communities around the world ( Zhang et al., 2016). In this situation, regulatory, technological, and cultural changes occurred to address the failings highlighted by the calamity. An especially salient example from which we can derive some instructive lessons is the financial collapse of 2008. The historical record shows that crises including wars, famines, food scandals – as well as pandemics – change institutions and can have long-lasting impacts on affected societies ( Polanyi, 1944 Mazier et al., 1999 Parker, 2013). The implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability remain to be seen, but deep and pervasive societal changes are likely to unfold in the coming months and years. The coronavirus outbreak is also having environmental consequences, with significant reductions in air pollution due to large-scale slowdown in economic activity. Stock markets have been gyrating wildly and national governments are implementing vast financial programs to buffer what is already shaping up to be an extended period of extreme hardship. A widespread slowdown in economic activity is taking hold with a record number of people being rendered unemployed in the United States and elsewhere during March and April 2020. China's exports fell by more than 17 percent in January and February 2020 and world trade is expected to decline by between 13% and 32% in 2020 ( WTO, 2020). The public health crisis has impelled – and will likely continue to drive – a global economic catastrophe. But the behavior changes are necessary and some of them may provide useful insight for how we can facilitate transformations toward more sustainable supply and production. At a time when we are being prevailed upon to come together and to support one another in society, we must learn to do so from a distance. Many of these adjustments are in contradistinction to “normal” routines. Some of the actions of social distancing include self-quarantining, avoiding large gatherings, working from home where possible, sending students back to their residences, providing online education, reducing travel (especially in confined and mass transportation modes), limiting visits to stores, and many other everyday activities. The coronavirus outbreak will diffuse, but behavioral actions are needed to mitigate the number of contractions, illnesses, and deaths. We have all seen figures on “flattening the curve” to help spread out the impact on medical facilities. The practice of social distancing has entered daily lifestyles as individuals, governments, communities, industrial firms, and academic institutions come to grips with the challenges of minimizing the loss of human life in the face of an invisible contagion. As we write this perspective article, the situation is still in its early stages in many regions of the world and is continually evolving. As members of the Future Earth Knowledge-Action Network on Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production we have – as virtually everyone else – paid close attention to the COVID-19 pandemic which is one of the most comprehensive and tragic public health crises in a century.
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