This was supposed to be a big year in the climate movement. In 2019, millions of people around the world mobilized and called for governments to do something to combat global warming. The effort led TIME to name climate activist Greta Thunberg the 2019 Person of the Year. In 2020, ahead of COP 26 in Glasgow, world leaders and experts were expected to have crucial meetings on the state of the planet, and what governments need to do to address climate change. Now, the global outbreak of COVID-19 may be a set back, reports TIME environment and energy reporter Justin Worland.
Major international climate discussions are at risk of being postponed. Already canceled are this year’s World Ocean Summit, which was set to take place in Japan, and CERAWeek, an energy conference in Houston, both planned for mid-March. The meetings were supposed to come ahead of the Glasgow summit—still scheduled for November—where world leaders will determine the Paris Agreement’s effect on climate change. If it doesn’t get cancelled, too.
“Everybody’s going to be putting safety first right now,” Matthew McKinnon, an advisor to a group of countries especially vulnerable to climate change, tells Worland. “And whether or not safety first aligns with climate first is going to vary from place to place.”
COVID-19 has also slowed the global economy, and governments in some parts of the world may encourage fossil fuel burning as a stimulus measure. The most significant country to watch is China, Worland reports. It’s the world’s second-largest economy and the largest carbon emitter—and the epicenter of the current coronavirus outbreak, with more than 80,000 diagnoses of COVID-19. Chinese leaders have promised giant stimulus packages to encourage economic growth as the country recovers from the outbreak, and in the past, such measures have been carbon-intensive, Worland reports.
“It makes me wonder, when will the world get its act together?” Worland says. Still, he adds, economic growth doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in carbon emissions. Much to his surprise, “Some people still have hope,” Worland says. Read more here.
TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
Two islands announced their first cases of COVID-19: Cyprus, in the Mediterranean, and St. Martin, in the Carribean. Albania, in Europe, and Brunei, in Southeast Asia, also reported cases for the first time, bringing the total number of countries and territories that have reported at least one case of the novel coronavirus to 107 (the brightness of the red coloration represents higher numbers of case):
There was good news out of China today: officials there reported just 19 new cases, and cities are starting to return to normal. President Xi Jinping made his first visit to Wuhan since the coronavirus first emerged in the central Chinese city back in December.
In Europe, the outbreak continues to worsen in Italy, which now has the second-highest number of confirmed cases following only China, as well as the second-highest reported deaths. Earlier today, Premier Giuseppe Conte announced that the government is extending travel restrictions—previously imposed on northern Italy—to the entire country. TIME international reporter Mélissa Godin today dove deep into why Italy, in particular, has experienced such a bad outbreak of the coronavirus.
Here are the countries with the most cases of the illness, as of Monday night:
European and Asian markets rebounded slightly on Tuesday, perhaps in part due to a Monday night press conference, where President Trump floated the possibility that he would ask Congress to pass a payroll tax cut and said he was considering “hourly wage earners getting help so that they can be in a position where they’re not going to ever miss a paycheck”—though he wasn’t specific about what that might look like. In the U.S., early gains were wiped out by mid-day, and Trump met with Republican legislators in the afternoon to discuss measures to buoy the economy.
All numbers are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of March 9, 7 PM eastern time.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Trump Administration Is Stalling a Report That Says the U.S. Isn’t Ready For a Global Pandemic
TIME foreign policy and national security reporter John Walcott spoke to two senior government officials who have seen a final draft of a classified intelligence report that, the officials say, makes clear the U.S.’s vulnerability to COVID-19. And the White House appears to be holding back the report’s publication. Read more here.
The Stock Market Came to a Halt Yesterday. Here’s a History on Economy-Disrupting Outbreaks
Historian Elena Conis digs into the history of past global outbreaks that reached the U.S. mainland, and walks us through what we can learn from them, in terms of how COVID-19 might impact the current global economy. Read more here.
Speaking of History, Here’s What We Know About Past Quarantines on Ships
The Grand Princess cruise ship was finally able to dock at a port in Oakland, Calif. after days of uncertainty at sea. Twenty-one of its passengers have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. TIME’s history writer Olivia B. Waxman gives us a glimpse into past cases of ship quarantines. Did you know even the word “quarantine” has maritime origins? Read more here.
Vaccine Testing Continues…
Researchers in Nebraska and Washington state continue to recruit healthy volunteers to test experimental drugs to treat COVID-19. Two people who were quarantined in Nebraska after being stuck aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship have volunteered for one of the studies, for the antiviral remdesivir. Read more here.
New York Is Making Its Own Hand Sanitizer—Using Prisoners
You may have noticed shortages of Purell and other sanitizing products at your local drug store. Well, if you are in New York, at least, your state has a solution—but it involves prison labor. Read more here.
The Small Ukranian Town That Was Torn Apart by Coronavirus Rumors
Riots broke out in Novi Sanzhary, a small town in Ukraine, in mid-February. It all began over rumors and misinformation about COVID-19. Buzzfeed traveled to the town to take a look at the dangers of misinformation. Read more here.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com.
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