Research and Innovation Center, and the United Nations Sustainable Development
Solutions Network Greece. As a response to the climate crisis and its effect on
marine ecosystems and coastal populations, the Sustainable Blue Growth domain is
one of the many research domains of our cluster and aims at establishing transformation pathways towards Sustainable Blue Growth, which will be supported by
technically and socially innovative solutions. We focus on research, education,
development and support of open access databases, innovation incubation and
acceleration, and policy recommendations, while our aim is to engage all relevant
stakeholders in co-designing a systems innovation pathway for the transition to
socially, culturally, economically, environmentally and geopolitically sustainable
development in Europe and beyond, embracing seas and oceans.
This book has been finalized during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has
clearly proven the ability of governments to take dramatic measures to mitigate an
existential threat, as well as people’s ability, at least in the short run, to adapt to new
restricted lifestyles imposed by these measures. A second message is that the timing
of the enactment of measures is crucial for their effectiveness in saving lives. A third
message is that the response to COVID-19 came from national states, while international organizations lack in terms of explicit imminent response. Importantly,
there is serious scientific speculation that COVID-19 might be connected to the
climate crisis and the related loss in biodiversity. Deforestation drives wild animals
closer to human populations, increasing the likelihood that zoonotic viruses will
make the cross-species leap. Moreover, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change warned that global warming will likely accelerate the emergence of new
viruses.
What one cannot help but notice is that the response to the COVID-19 pandemic
is very different to the lack of effective action on climate change, the other existential
crisis of our times. One should ask why. Climate change has the potential to end up
killing more people than COVID-19, but the deaths reference of this crisis is hidden
in the jargon as “increased frequency and severity of natural disasters” and is spread
over decades. IPCC 2018 reports that the level and speed of the change needed, to
successfully tackle the climate crisis, is unprecedented. Incremental changes will not
be enough!
Our generation has lived to see at least three global crises: the financial crisis
of 2007–08, the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented economic crisis (the
pandemic has created a demand shock, a supply shock, and a financial shock all at
once) deriving from the required social-distancing measures taken to contain the
spread the virus, and the mother of all crises, the climate crisis. If we continue
attempting to face each new crisis with the same socio-economic model that gave
rise to the crisis, we will fail to find a sustainable and resilient socio-economic–
environmental pathway. In downturns, as Darwin surmised, those who survive “are
not the strongest or the most intelligent, but the most adaptable to change”.
I believe that we can do even better than just react to crises by adapting to the new
crisis-born reality. We can use science – as we are using science currently for
designing measures to restrain the diffusion of COVID-19 – to design economies
that will mitigate the threats of climate change, biodiversity loss and pandemics. We
x
Acknowledgements
Solutions Network Greece. As a response to the climate crisis and its effect on
marine ecosystems and coastal populations, the Sustainable Blue Growth domain is
one of the many research domains of our cluster and aims at establishing transformation pathways towards Sustainable Blue Growth, which will be supported by
technically and socially innovative solutions. We focus on research, education,
development and support of open access databases, innovation incubation and
acceleration, and policy recommendations, while our aim is to engage all relevant
stakeholders in co-designing a systems innovation pathway for the transition to
socially, culturally, economically, environmentally and geopolitically sustainable
development in Europe and beyond, embracing seas and oceans.
This book has been finalized during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has
clearly proven the ability of governments to take dramatic measures to mitigate an
existential threat, as well as people’s ability, at least in the short run, to adapt to new
restricted lifestyles imposed by these measures. A second message is that the timing
of the enactment of measures is crucial for their effectiveness in saving lives. A third
message is that the response to COVID-19 came from national states, while international organizations lack in terms of explicit imminent response. Importantly,
there is serious scientific speculation that COVID-19 might be connected to the
climate crisis and the related loss in biodiversity. Deforestation drives wild animals
closer to human populations, increasing the likelihood that zoonotic viruses will
make the cross-species leap. Moreover, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change warned that global warming will likely accelerate the emergence of new
viruses.
What one cannot help but notice is that the response to the COVID-19 pandemic
is very different to the lack of effective action on climate change, the other existential
crisis of our times. One should ask why. Climate change has the potential to end up
killing more people than COVID-19, but the deaths reference of this crisis is hidden
in the jargon as “increased frequency and severity of natural disasters” and is spread
over decades. IPCC 2018 reports that the level and speed of the change needed, to
successfully tackle the climate crisis, is unprecedented. Incremental changes will not
be enough!
Our generation has lived to see at least three global crises: the financial crisis
of 2007–08, the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented economic crisis (the
pandemic has created a demand shock, a supply shock, and a financial shock all at
once) deriving from the required social-distancing measures taken to contain the
spread the virus, and the mother of all crises, the climate crisis. If we continue
attempting to face each new crisis with the same socio-economic model that gave
rise to the crisis, we will fail to find a sustainable and resilient socio-economic–
environmental pathway. In downturns, as Darwin surmised, those who survive “are
not the strongest or the most intelligent, but the most adaptable to change”.
I believe that we can do even better than just react to crises by adapting to the new
crisis-born reality. We can use science – as we are using science currently for
designing measures to restrain the diffusion of COVID-19 – to design economies
that will mitigate the threats of climate change, biodiversity loss and pandemics. We
x
Acknowledgements