COVID-19 caused the biggest drop in carbon emissions ever – how do we make it last?

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast we drill down into the impact coronavirus lockdowns had on global carbon emissions – and ask what this means for the fight against climate change as governments turn their focus on the recovery. And we hear how the pandemic exacerbated the hardships faced by migrant workers in Canada. 

Corinne Le Quéré, Professor of Climate Change Science at the University of East Anglia, tells globla carbon emissions dropped 7% in 2020 – by 2.6 billion tonnes. While this was the biggest drop ever, everything is relative. She puts the figures into perspective for us about what was happening before the pandemic, and what needs to happen now for the world to reach its targets under the Paris Agreement. Click here to explore a graphic she's made with her team, exploring this history of emissions around the world.

And we also talk to Steve Westlake, a PhD researcher at Cardiff University, about his research into what influences our behaviour when it comes to reducing carbon emissions -- and why he thinks individual actions still matter.

We’re also joined in this episode by The Conversation’s Vinita Srivastava, host of Don’t Call Me Resilient, a new podcast about race. She introduces a conversation she had with Min Sook Lee, Assistant Professor in Documentary Film at OCAD University in Toronto, on the harsh conditions, isolation and precarious working conditions faced by migrant farm workers in Canada.

And Wale Fatade from The Conversation in Lagos, Nigeria, gives us some recommended reading. 

The Conversation Weekly is hosted by Gemma Ware and Dan Merino. The show is co-produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Visit The Conversation for full credits. A transcript of this episode is available here.

If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on [email protected]

Further reading

• We’ve made progress to curb global emissions. But it’s a fraction of what’s needed, Pep Canadell, CSIRO; Corinne Le Quéré, University of East Anglia and colleagues.
• Climate change: yes, your individual action does make a difference, Steve Westlake, Cardiff University
• Coronavirus lockdown will have ‘negligible’ impact on the climate – new study, Piers Forster, University of Leeds
• How we treat migrant workers who put food on our tables: Don’t Call Me Resilient Episode 4, by The Conversation
• Migrant worker segregation doesn’t work: COVID-19 lessons from Southeast Asia by Peter Vandergeest, York University, Canada; Melissa Marschke, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa, and Peter Duker, York University, Canada
• Memory practices are not enough to remedy Nigeria-Biafra war injustices, by Benjamin Maiangwa, Durham University and Chigbo Arthur Anyaduba, University of Winnipeg
• Beer, politics and identity – the chequered history behind Namibian brewing success, by Paul Nugent, University of Edinburgh