Tackling climate change and staying happy during COVID-19: this week's World Vs Virus podcast

"Dealing with climate changes isn't a luxury. Dealing with climate change is a life and death issue and it has massive economic consequences," Jennifer Morgan tells this week's World Vs Virus podcast.

The head of Greenpeace International has spent decades campaigning for action to combat global warming, but just as it was starting to look like change might be coming, the world's attention has turned to another global crisis, COVID-19. Will people give up on climate change? Morgan thinks not.

The rapid global response to the virus outbreak, she said, "tells us that when we listen to the science and we understand what's at stake and the risks of what's at stake, and we have clarity on what we need to do, we can tackle and address these big issues, these crises.

"And on climate change we know what the problem is. We know the people who are being impacted by it. We know what the solutions are. I think the key is to put the health of people and the planet first. And that's what's happening on COVID-19 and that's what has not yet happened on climate change in many cases."

This episode also features Laurie Santos, psychologist and podcaster affectionately known as Yale's 'professor of happiness'. Prof. Santos gives us three key tips on mental wellbeing during COVID: stay social, help others, and live in the 'now'. She also explains why scenes of people fighting over toilet rolls in the supermarket are the exception, not the rule, as people tend to become less selfish during a crisis.

World Versus Virus is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts where it features on its Essential Listening collection.

Articles discussed in the podcast:

Rethinking tax in Africa to respond to COVID-19

How policymakers should use the wealth of COVID-19 data

Will COVID-19 lead to the global resurgence of other deadly diseases?

This week's 'reason to be cheerful':

Wisdom Weavers of the World.

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