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Are we ignoring a black elephant in the Anthropocene? Climate change and global pandemic as the crisis in health and equality.

Shinichiro AsayamaSeita EmoriMasahiro SugiyamaFumiko KasugaChiho Watanabe
Published in: Sustainability science (2020)
Climate change and coronavirus pandemic are the twin crises in the Anthropocene, the era in which unsustainable growth of human activities has led to a significant change in the global environment. The two crises have also exposed a chronic social illness of our time-a deep, widespread inequality in society. Whilst the circumstances are unfortunate, the pandemic can provide an opportunity for sustainability scientists to focus more on human society and its inequalities, rather than a sole focus on the natural environment. It opens the way for a new normative commitment of science in a time of crises. We suggest three agendas for future climate and sustainability research after the pandemic: (1) focus on health and well-being, (2) moral engagement through empathy, and (3) science of loss for managing grief.
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