COVID-19 and climate: A certain chemistry

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented impact on people, work and lifestyles, institutions, and the environment. Millions worldwide have been infected, and hundreds of thousands have perished. Hospitals and medical professionals are engaged in an unenviable struggle to cope with increased demand.

There are widespread factory shutdowns and disruptions to production and distribution channels. With rising global unemployment levels, the demand for social and government safety nets has skyrocketed. There are notable declines in consumer spending, air travel, and road transport. Many are working from home. Some argue that work will never return to what it used to be during pre-COVID times. For example, detailed analyses produced by Goldman Sachs Equity Research (July 2020) show that Australia is experiencing the largest drop in the demand for the central business district (CBD) office spaces in the last 50 years. Their models predict a 42% reduction in net effective rental income from Melbourne CBD office stock by December 2021. For Sydney, it is approximately 40% less than pre-COVID levels. Undoubtedly, the road to economic recovery is long and hard.