COVID-19 and Climate Change: A Tale of Two Global Problems

Rolando Fuentes, Marzio Galeotti, Alessandro Lanza and Baltasar Manzano
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Rolando Fuentes: EGADE Business School–Tec de Monterrey, Zapopan 45201, Jalisco, Mexico
Alessandro Lanza: Luiss University Rome and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, 20123 Milan, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: In this paper, we examine the similarities and the differences between two global problems, the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, and the extent to which the experience with the COVID-19 pandemic can be of use for tackling climate change. We show that both problems share the same microeconomic foundations, involving an overprovision of a global public bad. In addition, they entail externalities whose correction comes at very high economic and social costs. We leverage on a well-established problem such as climate change that has been studied for several years now, to highlight the common traits with the COVID-19 pandemic, but also important differences. The COVID-19 crisis is itself a reality check for climate policy, international governance and prevention in general. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic is a mock laboratory of climate change, where the time scale of unfolding events is reduced from decades to days. While the former is often measured in days, weeks, months, years, the latter is measured in years, decades, and centuries.

Keywords: adaptation; climate change; coronavirus; COVID-19; global public goods; mitigation; technological innovation; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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