After every crisis, carbon emissions continue to grow at an alarming rate. We can't let that happen

We need an economic recovery that sets us on the path to pushing carbon emissions towards an altogether more permanent decline. write Jack Curtis and Jacques Sheehan

(PA)

V-shaped, U-shaped, L-shaped. As governments and businesses grapple with easing lockdown measures, talk has turned to the letter of the alphabet most likely to resemble the economic recovery.

Alongside the public health response, the economic impact is rightly the greatest priority, but the type of recovery we pursue will have huge ramifications for the environment.

The global coronavirus pandemic has led to striking drops in pollution and emissions, with a recent report from the International Energy Agency predicting an unprecedented fall in CO2 emissions of 8 per cent in 2020 due to the coronavirus-induced slowdown. But make no mistake, this is nothing but an anomaly in the otherwise relentless climb of society’s carbon emissions.