NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By David Waskow

The COVID-19 crisis has shown how deep inequalities make society as a whole more vulnerable —providing important lessons for building resilience in an era of climate change. The people most exposed to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic crisis are largely those who are also most vulnerable to climate change impacts: lower-income and disadvantaged people, including women, minorities and marginalized ethnic groups, the elderly, informal workers and those in essential but undervalued jobs on the front lines.

With millions infected, more than half the global workforce at immediate risk of losing their livelihoods and the number of people facing acute hunger potentially doubling to 265 million, the COVID crisis is worsening inequality, with dire consequences for our societies and economies. Often, the crisis is most acute for the poor in developing countries where livelihoods are precarious.

Photo courtesy of Tai’s Captures.