While the world is getting ready to open up once again, there are many troubling signs of what is in store. Throughout the quarantine period, the world was filled with news of how animal life was reclaiming certain territories, how nature was nursing itself back to health and even how the water flowing through river Ganga was apparently fit for drinking at some places.

There was also news of how world emissions levels just flatlined and proved we could stop emitting, at a high cost. The painful truth now, however, is that the world can simply not handle what many countries across the world have planned. Just last week, Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) released a report claiming that the air-pollution levels in China have spiked back up to prelockdown levels.

The same spike has since been confirmed by official Chinese reports as well. The report also claims that some of the pollutants such as Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) and Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) are now being found at higher rates than before, with levels of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) reaching the same levels as before.

This was expected, as the factories will quite possibly run for longer hours to make up for lost time, in an effort to meet contract requirements. As of now, no global agreement has been reached to help control the overworking of these factories and other allied industries. The impact will not just be seen in China, however. Many countries which rely on their industries will have to take similar steps.

This uncontrolled gearing up of manufacturing activities will lead to even more dangerous consequences for everyone across the world. The agony doesn’t simply end here though. The climate change mitigation movement faces a bigger villain in the form of uncontrolled and unsustainable coal mining that will also be ramped up. German company Uniper SE’s Datteln-4 plant has already been slated to start sometime this year.

Protestors are gearing up to protest the opening up of this plant. Even closer home in India, the Union Government has proposed the clearing of a portion of Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve to start a new coal mine. The reserve also contains Saleki, the largest rainforest in India. This isn’t the first time a forest is being razed in the name of ‘development’ in India, but the prevalent conditions make it difficult to even protest this project.

Several online campaigns have sprung up to try to delay the project, but a large-scale grassroots movement from the North East is the only way to stop the project for good. While this forest can be protected, a portion of India’s biggest mangrove forest has had to bow down to a cyclone. The trail of damage left behind is disastrous and requires immediate attention. Mangroves are among the most effective form of natural carbon capture.

Blue carbon, which is a term for carbon which is captured in ocean and coastal systems, is incredibly important. Losing the Sunderbans is like losing a lung. India needs to help rebuild the Sunderbans eco-system instead of allowing for an elephant reserve to be razed to make way for coal mines. We must not let the pandemic wipe away our concern for climate change and its impacts.

(The writer is a final year student at Jindal Global University, Sonipat)