Cities & Health

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcah20

COVID-19 and climate change: an integrated

perspective

Robert Newell & Ann Dale

To cite this article: Robert Newell & Ann Dale (2020): COVID-19 and climate change: an
integrated perspective, Cities & Health, DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2020.1778844

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2020.1778844

Published online: 28 Jul 2020.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 1039

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rcah20
CITIES & HEALTH
https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2020.1778844

COMMENTARY AND DEBATE

COVID-19 and climate change: an integrated perspective

a,b b
Robert Newell and Ann Dale
a
Food and Agriculture Institute, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC, Canada; bSchool of Environment and Sustainability, Royal
Roads University, Victoria, BC, Canada

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The COVID-19 outbreak has revealed multiple vulnerabilities in community systems. Effectively Received 5 May 2020
addressing these vulnerabilities and increasing local resilience requires thinking beyond solely Accepted 2 June 2020
pandemic responses and taking more holistic perspectives that integrate sustainability objec­ KEYWORDS
tives. Pandemic preparedness and climate action in particular share similarities in terms of COVID-19; climate change;
needs and approaches for community sustainability. This paper reflects on what the outbreak integrated strategies
has illustrated regarding community vulnerability to crises, with a focus on local economy and
production, economic diversification, and social connectivity. The paper argues for integrated
approaches to community development that increase our capacity to respond to both public
health and climate crises.

Introduction social connectivity. It argues for integrated approaches

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed multiple vul­
nerabilities and gaps in community systems, present­
ing planners and decision-makers with the significant
challenge of developing in ways that increase local
resilience and sustainability. Global connectedness
through transport, complex trade links, supply chains,
urbanization, and habitat destruction has facilitated
the rapid transmission of this novel virus. Settele
et al. (2020, para.3) explain that ‘[r]ampant deforesta­
tion, uncontrolled expansion of agriculture, intensive
farming, mining and infrastructure development, as
well as the exploitation of wild species have created
a “perfect storm” for the spillover of diseases.’
Sustainable community development will not be rea­
lized without integrated strategies that recognize the
intersectionality between ecological, social, economic,
and health imperatives.
Returning to ‘business as usual’ will not happen, and
we are entering a period of ‘new normal’. COVID-19
has exposed vulnerabilities that extend beyond pan­
demic issues, necessitating thinking beyond solely pan­
demic responses and addressing broader resilience to
a range of disturbances. Particularly salient is the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (2018)
warning to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial
levels within the decade or face catastrophic impacts,
and albeit a different crisis, pandemic preparedness and
climate adaptation share similarities in terms of com­
munity sustainability. This paper reflects on what the
COVID-19 outbreak has illustrated regarding commu­
nity vulnerability to crises, with a focus on local econ­
omy and production, economic diversification, and
to planning and policy, involving holistic perspectives
that recognize interrelationships between different cri­
tical sustainability issues and how certain strategies can
achieve multiple co-benefits (Newell et al. 2018). The
intention is not to define a particular framework for
implementing integrated planning; rather, it is to
demonstrate how areas of vulnerability intersect and
to stimulate thinking on how communities can imple­
ment plans and strategies that achieve multiple goals for
sustainability and resilience.
Localization
COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerabilities at multiple
government levels associated with global supply chains
(Fernandes 2020), further complicated by challenges
around transboundary interactions and pandemic con­
tainment. Examples of issues include widespread
shortages of personal protective equipment for medical
professionals and food system problems related to
labour shortages, ‘just-in-time’ inventory management,
and disruptions to transportation networks (Hobbs
2020). Such issues relate to scale, distribution, and
critical infrastructure needs, and they demonstrate
that the conventional economic approach of centralized
production based on efficiencies and economies of scale
has decreased critical local and national capacities and
resilience. They underscore the benefits of strategically
optimizing local production-consumption and global
supply chains. Recognizing the imperative for
a recalibration between local and global production
would be beneficial in terms of local supply of critical
infrastructure services, with co-benefits of reduced

CONTACT Robert Newell robert.newell@ufv.ca Food and Agriculture Institute, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8, Canada
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 R. NEWELL AND A. DALE
transport costs, local and regional economic develop­
ment, and associated decreases in GHG emissions.
Food security imperatives require decentralizing
these systems and reducing producer-consumer dis­
tances to increase resilience to exogenous shocks.
Strategies to reduce food vulnerabilities include
strengthening urban-rural food connectivity, stimulat­
ing urban land-use food innovations, exploring new
crop options for a changing climate, and creating
policies and standards that ensure local production is
not more emission-intensive than imports. New part­
nerships and governance structures comprising local
planners and decision-makers in urban, peri-
urban, and rural are needed to identify critical land-
use and infrastructure needs for strengthening regio­
nal food systems, similar to those formed through the
EU’s Urban-Rural Partnerships in Metropolitan Areas
project (Knieling et al. 2017).
COVID-19 has broader implications for supply
chains beyond the notable examples of medical equip­
ment and food, highlighting the need to address other
potentially vulnerable distribution networks, such as
energy resources. COVID-19 has made the world
‘pause’ and a window of opportunity to steer the
economy towards a carbon-neutral economy at
a much lower financial, social, and political cost.
Plummeting oil prices make it more politically feasible
to finally eliminate the massive subsidies for fossil
fuels and redirect investment in climate-friendly com­
munity infrastructure, such as distributed and district
energy systems. Long-term integrated planning can
illuminate important co-benefits for sustainability
and resilience; for example, transitioning from fossil
fuels has key co-benefits for strengthening community
health and reducing vulnerability to respiratory dis­
eases, while also addressing climate change impacts.
More people die from air pollution each year than this
novel virus, yet it appears less urgent due to its tem­
poral distribution and occurrences over longer periods
of time; it is not as sudden or dramatic. However, the
transformation of energy systems will require unpre­
cedented global effort, given the ubiquity of climate
impacts. Although local climate action is essential,
there is also a need for national and international
bodies and frameworks (e.g., UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change) to ensure coordina­
tion of climate policies, strategies, and efforts.
Diversity
The pandemic has highlighted major vulnerabilities
and inequitable income distribution in traditional
extraction- and consumer-based economies that have
resulted in devasting job loss worldwide, particularly
for the and oil and gas and service sectors (Fernandes
2020). Economic diversification is a key component of
community resilience; diverse economic and social
infrastructures ensure continued socio-economic
functioning following major disruptions that result
in failures and economic downtowns in particular
sectors (Berkes and Ross 2013). However, although
the value of diversification is widely recognized,
attempts to diversify in many cases can result in sim­
ply shifting focus from one local industry to another,
rather than economic transformations to varied indus­
tries and activities. For example, resource-based com­
munities that are vulnerable to boom-and-bust cycles
may attempt to increase resilience by building and
promoting local tourism industries (Carson and
Carson 2011). However, as seen both through this
pandemic and the recent Australian bushfires, tourism
is also vulnerable to health and climate disturbances.
Long-term sustainability requires a much more ambi­
tious economic diversification agenda, involving local
innovation (Berkes and Ross 2013) and a dynamic
equilibrium between local and global production and
supply. Evidence of business innovation has emerged
in this pandemic, examples being distilleries produ­
cing hand sanitizers (Thomson and Bullied 2020).
Local governments can harness such innovation by
engaging business and community associations using
asset-based community development approaches that
identify and mobilize human and social capitals, as
suggested by Boodram (2019) for economic diversifi­
cation in Caribbean communities.
Economic recovery after such a global pause can be
accelerated by a green new deal leading to a post-
pandemic carbon-neutral economy. However, eco­
nomic stimulation needs to embrace diversification
and avoid focusing investment in single industries or
sub-industries, regardless of whether these are ‘green’
(i.e., eco-tourism, solar). As seen in agriculture, diver­
sifying operations increases resilience by allowing for
harvesting multiple products, even when a particular
crop is impacted by market or environmental changes
(Rotz and Fraser 2015). Broadly applying this idea to
local industries would be similarly valuable for com­
munity resilience, but also could prove challenging as
its counterintuitive to the dominant capitalism para­
digm of competing in a particular product or service
area regardless of place.
The pandemic has resulted in an increase in the
number of people working from home, with clear
climate and health co-benefits of this strategy being
reduced commuting-related GHGs and air pollutants,
as well as reduced stress in large urban centres with
heavy traffic congestion. This massive ‘telecommuting
experiment’ can provide a strong basis for public and
private organizations to continue these practices fol­
lowing the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions;
companies such as Twitter and Shopify have
announced they will continue to allow employees to
work from home post-pandemic. The pandemic, how­
ever, has also highlighted that the ability to

telecommute is a privilege that is not shared by all,
particularly for those in the service sector whose liveli­
hoods rely on public gathering in places such as res­
taurants, shopping centres, sporting arenas, etc.
(Fernandes 2020). To some extent, the service sector
can adapt (and is adapting) by providing options that
require minimal physical contact, such as takeaway,
online options and pick-up, and audience-free events;
however, a complete transition away from social gath­
ering in the sector is not practical or perhaps even
desirable. The new normal will require strategies for
greater social equity and inclusion, and there are now
increased calls for a guaranteed annual income,
a strategy some communities have explored in
response to other socio-economic disturbances such
as mass automation in United States (Howard 2018).
Connectivity
Social connectivity is an exacerbator of the pandemic
problem and physical distancing a necessity for miti­
gating its spread; however, the outbreak is also
demonstrating the need for social connectivity and
the importance of support networks for health and
well-being. The pandemic has dramatically influenced
how we are now adapting trying to (re)connect online.
This has also stimulated more innovative use of the
Internet through the arts, such as museum exhibits, art
galleries, film festivals, and music concerts being
offered online. Continuing to take advantage of these
online innovations through improved online meeting
and communication technologies can be a proactive
strategy for reducing GHG emissions and diversifying
options for how we work, live, and play. However, it is
once again important to address access and privilege,
in relation to affordability, aptitude with online tech­
nologies, and housing security. Optimizing these
opportunities involves recognizing that intersections
between social equity (e.g., guaranteed annual income)
and inclusion (e.g., accessibility to critical infrastruc­
ture), critical for achieving sustainability for all and
not just some.
Other aspects of connectivity include the social capital
and sense of community that is born through the ability
to ‘be out’ and interact with community members. These
have been greatly compromised by physical distancing
measures, in particular the social capital and sense of
community that is built through ‘connecting’ with
diverse community members in public spaces (Curley
2010). However, sense of community and place is also
associated with simply being able to access safe parks and
trails (Jennings and Bamkole 2019), and local planners
can facilitate such access through urban designs that
optimize even-distribution of green space in a manner
that mitigates crowding in increasingly dense urban
CITIES & HEALTH 3
spaces. This approach would also increase community
health through residential proximity to parks and exer­
cise spaces (Cohen et al. 2007), reducing pre-existing
condition vulnerabilities to other diseases, while produ­
cing multiple climate action and biodiversity co-benefits
associated with green space, such as carbon sequestra­
tion, stormwater control, cooling during extreme heat
events, ecological connectivity, and wildlife habitat
(Newell et al. 2018). Integrated community sustainability
planning processes are key for achieving such integrated
health and sustainability strategies, as they involve com­
prehensively identifying ecological, social, and economic
objectives and reconciling these imperatives.
When thinking about social connectivity, it is
important to consider vulnerable and marginalized
groups. The pandemic has clearly illustrated that
supporting these groups is not just a matter of
compassion, but also a public health priority, as
homeless and under-housed populations are parti­
cularly vulnerable to contracting and communicat­
ing infectious diseases. These groups are also more
vulnerable to climate change impacts and severe
weather events.
Conclusion
In many ways, the COVID-19 outbreak is a warning
about future socio-economic disturbances that we may
face with climate change and other public health crises.
We can use the lessons learned from this crisis to open
opportunities for addressing critical gaps in community
resilience by integrating sustainability, health impera­
tives, and climate objectives through long-term inte­
grated planning. It highlights the need for paying
more attention to critical infrastructures to reduce vul­
nerabilities and increase resilience to exogenous shocks
beyond the control of any one community or nation.
The highly interconnected nature of modern society has
to reflect more diversified (rather than homogenous)
systems of production and consumption, a dynamic
equilibrium between the global and the local to enhance
community resilience.
Governments need to deliberatively intervene in their
current development paths and invest in critical, sus­
tained funding in health, social, and green infrastructures
to be able to respond to future pandemics and climate
change imperatives. COVID-19 has shown us how inter­
connected we are globally and the tightly coupled inter­
sections between modern challenges, and how human
behaviour and anthropogenic environmental changes
create the perfect storm for triggering disturbance and
exacerbating worldwide crises. We argue the ‘new nor­
mal’ must be grounded in integrated approaches to plan­
ning and policy following the outbreak (Figure 1) in
order to increase community resilience to respond to
4 R. NEWELL AND A. DALE
Figure 1. Community vulnerabilities and areas for integrated strategies. Elements in the diagram are classified as follows: grey
rectangles are global issues, blue octagons are vulnerabilities, and green ovals are strategic areas for addressing vulnerabilities.
both public health and climate crises.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Dr. Robert Newell works at the Food and Agriculture
Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley (B.C.,
Canada), and is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of
Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University
(BC, Canada). He teaches courses on critical sustainability
issues, particularly climate change and biodiversity loss, and
approaches to sustainable community development.
Newell’s research focuses on integrated community sustain­
ability planning, and he explores tools for supporting local
planning and decision-making, such as systems models and
visualizations.
Prof. Ann Dale is a Professor in the School of the
Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University
(B.C., Canada). She previously held the Canada Research
Chair in Sustainable Community Development (2004–
2014), and is a Trudeau Fellow Alumna (2004). Dale has
explored numerous topics related to sustainable community
development, including local climate action, sustainable
infrastructure, social capital and agency, and factors that
contributes to community vitality.
ORCID
Robert Newell http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4108-1727
Ann Dale http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3978-3458
References
Berkes, F. and Ross, H., 2013. Community resilience: toward
an integrated approach. Society & natural resources, 26
(1), 5–20. doi:10.1080/08941920.2012.736605
Boodram, C.A.S., 2019. Asset-based community develop­
ment as a vehicle for economic diversification: place-
based strategies for building stronger economies in the
Caribbean. In: A.M. Bissessar, ed. Development, political,
and economic difficulties in the Caribbean. Cham,
Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 103–116.
Carson, D. and Carson, D., 2011. Why tourism may not be
everybody’s business: the challenge of tradition in
resource peripheries. Rangeland journal, 33 (4),
373–383. doi:10.1071/RJ11026
Cohen, D.A., et al., 2007. Contribution of public parks to
physical activity. American journal of public health, 97
(3), 509–514. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.072447
Curley, A.M., 2010. Neighborhood institutions, facilities,
and public space: A missing link for HOPE VI residents’
development of social capital? Cityscape, 12 (1), 33–63.
Fernandes, N., 2020. Economic effects of Coronavirus
Outbreak (COVID-19) on the world economy.
Available at Social Science Research Network (SSRN).
doi:10.2139/ssrn.3557504
Hobbs, J., 2020. Food supply chains during the COVID-19
pandemic. Canadian journal of agricultural economics,
2020, 1–6. doi:10.1111/cjag.12237
Howard, M., 2018. Universal basic income: policy options at
national, state, and local levels. Maine policy review, 27
(2), 38–42. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/
mpr/vol27/iss2/5
IPCC, 2018. Global warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special
Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above
pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas
emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the
global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable
development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. V. Masson-
Delmotte, et al., eds. Geneva, Switzerland: World
Meteorological Organization.
Jennings, V. and Bamkole, O., 2019. The relationship
between social cohesion and urban green space: an ave­
nue for health promotion. International journal of envir­
onmental research and public health, 16 (3), 1–14.
doi:10.3390/ijerph16030452
Knieling, J., Jacuniak-Suda, M., and Obersteg, A., 2017.
Urban-rural partnerships and governance of peri-
urban areas in a European perspective: towards regen­
erative regions. In: A. Colucci, M. Magoni, and
S. Menoni, eds. Peri-urban areas and food-energy-
water nexus. Cham, Switzerland: Springer
International Publishing, 11–22.

Newell, R., Dale, A., and Roseland, M., 2018. Climate action
co-benefits and integrated community planning: unco­
vering the synergies and trade-offs. The international
journal of climate change: impacts and responses, 10 (4),
1–23. doi:10.18848/1835-7156/CGP/v10i04/1-23
Rotz, S. and Fraser, E.D., 2015. Resilience and the industrial
food system: analyzing the impacts of agricultural indus­
trialization on food system vulnerability. Journal of envir­
onmental studies and sciences, 5 (3), 459–473.
doi:10.1007/s13412-015-0277-1
CITIES & HEALTH 5
Settele, J., et al., 27 April 2020. COVID-19 stimulus mea­
sures: must save lives, protect livelihoods, and safeguard
nature to reduce the risk of future pandemics. Bonn,
Germany: Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform
on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). https://
ipbes.net/covid19stimulus
Thomson, E. and Bullied, A., 2020. Production of
ethanol-based hand sanitizer in breweries during the
COVID-19 crisis. Technical quarterly, 57 (1), 47–52.
doi:10.1094/TQ-57-1-0417-01