Back to business as usual

There is a lot of talk lately about getting back to "business as usual." Governors are talking about how to start lifting "stay at home" orders and attempting to get people "back to normal"….safely. While anxiety is high, it is challenging to discuss complicated topics. But if we can do so through the lens of reflection and not fear, perhaps we can shift our understanding and, eventually, our behavior. 

In this talk from July of 2019, Luisa Neubauer talks about the feeling that we had accomplished something extraordinary with the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement. We had convened globally to discuss what we needed to do and then agreed to do it. But post-agreement, most went back to "business as usual," and the data since this 2016 agreement shows that we have not done what we said we were going to do, and things have gotten worse. 

So in this time when many are talking about what the "new normal" will look like post-corona, it begs the question, what will we have learned and how will we act differently. So the real question when it comes to both life after coronavirus and climate change isn't WHAT to do or HOW to do it. We know the answers to those questions. 

The real question is, do we have the conviction to follow through on what we need to do to create the change we want to see in the world and our lives. Perhaps through reflection and then action, we will all be able to look back a year from now and say that we've never been closer with friends, family, colleagues and our responsibility to the environment.