TY - JOUR
T1 - The impacts of the early outset of the COVID-19 pandemic on climate change research
T2 - Implications for policy-making
AU - Leal Filho, Walter
AU - Wall, Tony
AU - Alves, Fatima
AU - Nagy, Gustavo J.
AU - Fernández Carril, Luis Ricardo
AU - Li, Chunlan
AU - Mucova, Serafino
AU - Platje Joost, Johannes
AU - Rayman-Bacchus, Lez
AU - Totin, Edmond
AU - Ayal, Desalegn Y.
AU - Lütz, Johannes M.
AU - Azeiteiro, Ulisses M.
AU - Vinuesa, Antonio Garcia
AU - Minhas, Aprajita
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - Since January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated the media and exercises pressure on governments worldwide. Apart from its effects on economies, education systems and societies, the pandemic has also influenced climate change research. This paper examines the extent to which COVID-19 has influenced climate change research worldwide during the first wave at the beginning of 2020 and how it is perceived to exploit it in the future. This study utilised an international survey involving those dedicated to climate change science and management research from Academia, Government, NGOs, and international agencies in 83 countries. The analysis of responses encompasses four independent variables: Institutions, Regions, Scientific Areas, and the level of economic development represented by the Human Development Index (HDI). Results show that: (1) COVID-19 modified the way the surveyed researchers work, (2) there are indicators that COVID-19 has already influenced the direction of climate change and adaptation policy implementation, and (3) respondents perceived (explicitly concerning the COVID-19 lockdowns of March-April 2020), that the pandemic has drawn attention away from climate policy. COVID- 19 has influenced the agenda of climate change research for more than half of the respondents and is likely to continue in the future, suggesting that the impacts on their research will still be felt for many years. The paper concludes by outlining critical implications for policy-making.
AB - Since January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated the media and exercises pressure on governments worldwide. Apart from its effects on economies, education systems and societies, the pandemic has also influenced climate change research. This paper examines the extent to which COVID-19 has influenced climate change research worldwide during the first wave at the beginning of 2020 and how it is perceived to exploit it in the future. This study utilised an international survey involving those dedicated to climate change science and management research from Academia, Government, NGOs, and international agencies in 83 countries. The analysis of responses encompasses four independent variables: Institutions, Regions, Scientific Areas, and the level of economic development represented by the Human Development Index (HDI). Results show that: (1) COVID-19 modified the way the surveyed researchers work, (2) there are indicators that COVID-19 has already influenced the direction of climate change and adaptation policy implementation, and (3) respondents perceived (explicitly concerning the COVID-19 lockdowns of March-April 2020), that the pandemic has drawn attention away from climate policy. COVID- 19 has influenced the agenda of climate change research for more than half of the respondents and is likely to continue in the future, suggesting that the impacts on their research will still be felt for many years. The paper concludes by outlining critical implications for policy-making.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Climate adaptation policy
KW - Climate change research
KW - Crisis
KW - Economic development
KW - World regions
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85109424960
U2 - 10.1016/j.envsci.2021.06.008
DO - 10.1016/j.envsci.2021.06.008
M3 - 文章
AN - SCOPUS:85109424960
SN - 1462-9011
VL - 124
SP - 267
EP - 278
JO - Environmental Science and Policy
JF - Environmental Science and Policy
ER -
