As the pandemic fades, the climate crisis must take centre stage again

We’re all hoping 2021 will see the end of the pandemic. How we reboot the world after covid-19 will help shape our fate as an even bigger emergency looms – dangerous climate change

Sachelle Babbar/ZUMA Wire/Shutterstock

IT MAY be a new year, but the same old question lingers: when will life get back to normal? This dominates the opening pages of our preview of 2021 (see “2021 preview: How soon will a covid-19 vaccine return life to normal?”).

A better question, though, is what kind of normal should we be striving for now? Because, as any climate scientist will tell you, the old one was doing us few favours in the long term. This is the focus of another part of our preview.

It is understandable and right that governments are taking …