Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on climate change summit negotiations from the climate governance perspective

Thi Phuong Tram Vo; Huu Hao Ngo; Wenshan Guo; Chris Turney; Yiwen Liu; Dinh Duc Nguyen; Xuan Thanh Bui; Sunita Varjani

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162936

Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on climate change summit negotiations from the climate governance perspective

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jun 20:878:162936. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162936. Epub 2023 Mar 18.

Authors

Thi Phuong Tram Vo¹, Huu Hao Ngo², Wenshan Guo¹, Chris Turney³, Yiwen Liu¹, Dinh Duc Nguyen⁴, Xuan Thanh Bui⁵, Sunita Varjani⁶

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia.
² Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia. Electronic address: huuhao.ngo@uts.edu.au.
³ Earth System Science, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia.
⁴ Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, Kyonggi University, 442-760, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Advanced Waste Treatment Technology & Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh (VNU-HCM), Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Viet Nam.
⁶ School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions to the world since 2020, with over 647 million confirmed cases and 6.7 million reported deaths as of January 2023. Despite its far-reaching impact, the effects of COVID-19 on the progress of global climate change negotiations have yet to be thoroughly evaluated. This discussion paper conducts an examination of COVID-19's impact on climate change actions at global, national, and local levels through a comprehensive review of existing literature. This analysis reveals that the pandemic has resulted in delays in implementing climate policies and altered priorities from climate action to the pandemic response. Despite these setbacks, the pandemic has also presented opportunities for accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. The interplay between these outcomes and the different levels of governance will play a crucial role in determining the success or failure of future climate change negotiations.

Keywords: Climate change negotiation; Green recovery; Low-carbon transition; Multi-level climate governance; The COVID-19 pandemic.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Carbon
Climate Change
Humans
Negotiating
Pandemics

Substances

Carbon