Observatoire sur la Pauvreté OPLA

Leonardo Becchetti and Francesco Salustri: The environmental crisis and the Covid-19 Pandemic: What we must learn for the future.

Friday. July 3, 2020, 16:00 - 17:15 (UTC+2) 

What is the link between pollution and the Covid-19 pandemic? What are the lessons that we can learn to implement more sustainable policies? Since January, the World has been experiencing a tragic pandemic causing several deaths, albeit with a different impact across regions.

There are a number of plausible explanations to this variation: pre-existing health conditions such as age and the presence of other diseases, policy interventions like lockdown measures, and demographic characteristics like population density. In addition to these factors, the environment seems to play a fundamental role in the spreading of the virus. In Italy, for example, the most polluted regions are also those more affected in terms of number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, while municipalities located in protected areas have been less affected. At the same time, in the last few months we have been experiencing alternative life-styles, like remote working and electric transports, that also contribute to reduce pollution levels worldwide. In this webinar we will review what the scientific debate suggests so far about the link between the coronavirus outbreak and the environment, explore more in details the Italian case, and draw some policy implications that simultaneously promote the environment, health, and economic and social wellbeing of local communities.

Join the seminar by connecting to the YouTube channel of The Economy of Francesco

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