The Impacts of the Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic on International Environmental Protection

The COVID-19 Pandemic, first reported in Wuhan-the capital of Hubei Province of China in December 2019, is a human tragedy that is currently affecting millions of people around the globe. Presently, about 215 countries have reported cases of COVID-19. As of September 23, 2020, case growth, according to the Worldometer, has accelerated to 31,850,036 cases, with 976,559 deaths and 23,449,907 recoveries. The World Health Organization (WHO), on January 30, 2020, announced COVID-19 as a pandemic and listed it as a public health emergency of global concern. It indicated with certainty that the COVID-19 epidemic would extend to every part of the world and noted that all individuals, businesses, and governments could change the disease's trajectory. On March 24, 2020, noting that the COVID-19 Pandemic is progressively spreading and its impacts upon human health and the economy escalating daily, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) urged governments to take urgent actions to minimize possible secondary impacts upon the global environment. However, a cursory survey of the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the world would show that it has already impacted international environmental protection in multidimensional ways. Thus, this paper focuses on the impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on international environmental protection. on IEP, balancing economic growth with environmental protection.


INTRODUCTION
The global situation with the spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic is evolving rapidly and is a huge concern to the international community. 1 The outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic globally has disturbed the political, social, economic, religious, and financial structures of the world. Both evolving economies and the world's leading economies, such as the US, China, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and several others, have been negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic. 2 The UN's Framework for the Immediate Socio-Economic Response to the COVID-19 crisis warns that the COVID-19 Pandemic is far over a health crisis affecting societies and economies at their core. 3 In other words, the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic go beyond health, touching upon a wide range of human activities 4 and increasing global challenges. 5 For example, the World Bank recently estimates that 40-60 million persons will be plunged into extreme poverty in 2020, lossing about three years of progress in poverty reduction. 6 As the health and human toll rises, global damage is already evident. 7 Border closures, travel restrictions, social distancing, and other emergency necessities have profoundly affected businesses worldwide. 8 Several people have lost their jobs or seen their incomes cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Unemployment rates have increased across significant economies as a result. 9 The International Labour Organization predicts that greenhouse gas emissions, respectively. 1 These emissions have dropped in countries where public health measures, such as keeping people in their homes, have cut unnecessary travel. 2 The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service has found a significant drop in nitrous oxides and fine particulate matter (PM) emission produced by traffic (especially diesel vehicles) and the burning of wood, peat, and coal. The reduction took out the equivalent of almost 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 in China and could curb global emissions from air travel by 11 to 19 percent, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. 3 Additionally, it is well-known that seagoing ships contribute significantly to total greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Approximately 3.1 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and 10% of global sulphur dioxide emissions (SO2) can be attributed to the maritime industry. 4 High sulphur fuels dominate in international shipping. Three major environmental and health problems are of concern concerning maritime sulphur emissions: climate interference, ocean acidification, and health problems due to local air pollution. With decreased global trade and hence, international shipping, we will likely see more reductions in these emissions over the coming months. 5 The International Energy Agency reported that the global energy demand and use are set to fall by 6% this 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This will result in the cut of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 1600 million tonnes this 2020, which is around 5.5 percent of total worldwide emissions in 2019. 6 To put the preceding view into perspective, that is equal to taking 3.46 billion passenger vehicles away from the roads for one year as calculated, making use of the Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. 7 This report is in line with recent global happenings. For example, as factories and businesses temporarily closed down, in addition to other restrictions to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic, China's coal use dropped by 40% at the country's six largest power plants. There was a significant reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels, and emissions fell 25% compared to the previous quarter of 2019, 8 according to the Centre of Research for Energy and Clean Air (CREA). 9 More so, global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are set to fall nearly 8% this year to their lowest level ever since 2010, the most significant drop ever recorded in history. 10 Simultaneously, the US crude oil prices dipped below zero in April 2020, before regaining slightly. This may reduce pollution from fossil fuels and provide new and innovative energy transition modalities. 11 That means the COVID-19 Pandemic crisis is so far triggering the largest ever annual fall in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2020, more than during any previous economic crisis or period of war. 12

Reduction In Global Air Pollution And Improvement Of Earth's Air Quality
With the entire population in several countries ordered to stay at home, factories, schools, and businesses limited their activities. Road traffic dwindled to a minimum as fewer cars are on the roads. The maritime industry reduced its activities as boats are on anchor. Airlines reduced scheduled flights by 60% to 95% as most airplanes are in the hangar. Whereas these developments have caused significant economic and social shocks as international production, consumption, and employment levels have fallen suddenly. They have also been linked with substantial reductions in global air pollution. Consequently, air quality levels in the world's leading cities have improved significantly. Air quality improved primarily because of a decrease in factory, road, and air traffic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and related ozone (O3) formation and particulate matter (PM). 1 Around the world, levels of various harmful atmospheric pollutants like NO2 (nitrogen dioxide), CO2 (carbon monoxide), SO2 (sulphur dioxide), and PM2.5 (small particulate matter) have dropped-at least, while shutdowns continue. In Europe, Rome experienced 26-35 percent average nitrogen dioxide concentrations lower than for the same period in 2019. Madrid experienced a 51 percent reduction in average nitrogen dioxide concentrations. London and Edinburgh have experienced a drop in nitrogen dioxide levels by up to 60 percent compared to the same period last year. Notoriously polluted cities such as Delhi, Bangkok, São Paulo, and Bogotá are also reportedly enjoying clearer skies and better air quality. 2 Cities in the United States, such as Los Angeles and New York, have observed considerable improvements in air quality. 3 According to the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the number of days with "good quality air" increased by 11.4% compared with the same time last year in 337 cities across China. 4 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) satellite images showed a dramatic drop in air pollution across Europe and China. They revealed a significant reduction in nitrogen dioxide concentrations-coinciding with the strict quarantine measures. 5 There are various stories of dramatic improvement in air quality in other parts of the world since the stay at home lockdown measures was introduced. 6 The 2020 Air Quality Index 7 has shown that cities with previously high levels of small particulate matter have observed a remarkable fall in pollution since enforcing lockdowns, 44% in Wuhan, 54% in Seoul, and 60% in New Delhi. 8 In a report collated by air quality information and tech company IQAir, 9 out of 10 major global cities that imposed COVID-19 shutdowns measured small particulate matter reductions of 25-60 percent compared to the same period last year. 9 Improvement in Earth's air quality due to a decrease in global air pollution has impacted positively on human health. For example, compared with this period last year, air pollution levels in New York have dropped by almost 100 50% due to measures to control the COVID-19, 1 and 11,000 air pollution-related deaths were avoided. 2 Fortyeight thousand people die annually in France because of atmospheric pollution, and more than one million in China. Scientists estimate the United States death toll from air pollution at more than 100,000 per year. 3 However, according to calculations carried out by Earth Science Assistant Professor Marshall Burke at Stanford University, the fall in air pollution due to the industrial shutdowns is expected to have saved between 53,000 to 77,000 lives in China alone. 4 Although exposure to outdoor air pollution does not damage our health as speedily as infectious diseases like COVID-19 might, WHO estimates that it accounts for 4.2 million premature deaths every year by escalating the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease, cancer, and adverse birth outcomes. A study from Harvard University links exposure to air pollution with higher mortality in COVID-19 cases. 5 Air pollution is estimated to be accountable for seven to eight million deaths per year, and fossil fuels are mostly to blame. 6

Increased Global Campaign Against Illegal Wildlife Harvesting And Trade (Wildlife Crime)
The COVID-19 Pandemic has resulted in an increased global campaign against illegal wildlife harvesting and trade. 7 Wildlife crime looked at generally is believed to worth about $200 billion a year, and it is having a damaging effect on the local communities, national economies, ecosystems as well as public health. 8 Illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest transnational crime after drugs, weapons, and human trafficking. The Pandemic, which has sent countries into lockdown and wiped billions from economies, has refocused attention on the illicit harvesting and trade of wild animals. 9 The harvest and sale of wild animals (human exploitation of wildlife) is a continuous threat to the survival of several species, in addition to infrequently posing a hazard to human society through viruses, as in the present case. A blend of two connected phenomena is believed to have caused the COVID-19 Pandemic. First, is the growing complex and potentially harmful interaction between humans and wildlife through illegal wildlife hunting, harvesting, and trade. Secondly, the ever-present and accelerated movement of people and goods across borders-one of the features of modern globalization. Whereas the former set of factors enabled the transmission of the COVID-19 virus from animals to humans, the latter has allowed its subsequent spread to pandemic proportions. 10 Pandemics such as COVID-19 are the result of humanity's exploitation of wildlife. The illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade is one of the driving forces behind the increasing number of diseases leaping from wildlife to humans. 11 It is on record that every year, poachers take an enormous 38 million animals from the wilds of Brazil to meet up the worldwide demand for illegal wildlife. Largely are birds, destined to become caged pets <https://www. 101 for owners in Rio de Janeiro or Sydney or Madrid or New York. 1 Biodiversity (all biological diversity from ecosystems, to species, to genes) is declining faster than at any time in human history. We clear forests and remove habitat, getting wild animals nearer to human settlements. And we hunt and sell wildlife, usually endangered, escalating the risk of disease transmission from animals to humans. 2 We have known for some time the devastating consequences of wildlife crime on local communities, national economies, fuelled by corruption, etc. But COVID-19 Pandemic has raised the attention of the global community to these deficiencies and recognized the public health risk connected with poorly-regulated, unregulated, and illegal trade in wildlife and unmitigated destruction of wild places. The COVID-19 Pandemic has lifted the attention and focus of governments, citizens, corporations, etc. to demand a much better system for regulating wildlife trade, dealing with wildlife crime, and protecting wild places. 3 According to Yan Xiang, professor of virology at the University of Texas Health Science Centre, "We're getting closer and closer to wild animals, and that brings us into contact with these viruses." 4 To put this into perception, the majority (three out of every four) of new infectious diseases in humans come from animals-from wildlife and from the livestock we keep in ever-larger quantities. 5 Research shows that 60% of all known infectious diseases in humans and 75% of all emerging infectious diseases come from wildlife (i.e., zoonotictransmitted from animals to humans). 17% of all contagious diseases are spread by animal vectors causing more than 700,000 annual deaths. As we move into natural habitats and exploit more wildlife, contact between humans and disease-carrying species increases. Diseases from farm animals (livestock) and other animals are infecting humans at a high rate than ever, resulting in at least 2.5 billion illnesses and 2.7 million human deaths per year, with more and increasing instances in developing countries. 6 COVID-19 Pandemic has highlighted the catastrophic impacts of illegal and unregulated wildlife trade and consumption. 7 Conservation of wildlife may keep their pathogens in check, preventing zoonotic spill-over, and ultimately benefiting humans, too. 8 As the health disaster keeps impacting human life internationally, it also underscores the pressing and urgent need to act to improve ecological security, reinforce the protection of wildlife and regulation of wildlife trade. 9 In other words, the global community must act to tackle the origins of zoonotic diseases, as well as the illegal, unregulated, and underregulated trade and consumption of wildlife that is believed to have led to the COVID-19 Pandemic and is generally believed to be the cause of HIV, Ebola, SARS, and MERS. Thus, the COVID-19 epidemic may yet prove to be a crucial moment in the attempts to address the illegal wildlife harvesting and trade-because the cost of disease emergence and spill-over from wildlife will be significantly higher than the economic gain of our exploitation of the environment. 10 Consequently, many voices have begun calling for the shutting down of high-risk "wet markets" where living and dead wildlife and domestic animals of diverse species and origins come together, conditions that make a perfect environment for coronaviruses and other wildlife-borne diseases to spill over to humans. Some, including Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the United Nations' biodiversity chief, campaigns for much broader action, for example, the end to all wildlife trade and consumption, and to ban all wildlife markets 1 -a call that is beginning to yield positive results. 2 China, for example, has heeded to the call by placing a ban on illegal wildlife harvesting and trade (China recently closed these markets and the business that supplies them). 3 More specifically, on February 24, 2020, China's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), announced a ban on the hunting, husbandry, trade, and use of wild animals as food to safeguard people's lives and health, a step welcomed as 'timely, necessary and critical' by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). 4 Further, Authorities in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, have officially banned eating, hunting, and breeding of wild animals within the city limits except for "scientific research, population regulation, monitoring of epidemic diseases and other special circumstances," and Wuhan has been declared "a wildlife sanctuary." 5 The ban on the capture, trade, and sale of live wild animals for food in China is believed to lead to reduced hunting pressure and the recovery of populations in the wild? 6 Also, many environmental conservation experts have called on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or CITES to live up to expectations and its mandates of dealing with international trade in wildlife and conservation concerns. These calls are coming on the basis that CITES is an international environmental treaty that regulates the global trade in some of the world's most threatened species, with the power to ban it when needed. 7 CITES aim is to keep the international trade of wild plants and animals legal, sustainable, and traceable. Its Parties make decisions to make sure that international trade of valuable wild species of plants and animals does not endanger their survival in the wild. 8

Sustainable Lifestyle Behavioural Change Barrier Broken and Global Awareness Of The Possibility To Reverse Some Of The Dangerous Trends Of Global Warming
The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has created massive behavioural change in a way that environmental policies have struggled to do. For example, the COVID-19 Pandemic seems to have done more to lower greenhouse gas emissions than just about any environmental-climate policy over the past two decades. We are already beginning to experience reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide, the most significant greenhouse gas, owing to the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. 9 People have taken several appealing radical measures in recent weeks because of the situation at hand. While these changes have been intense, they demonstrate that the world can make adjustments-adjustments that can reduce negative impacts on our climate. 10 The COVID-19 Pandemic has changed our lives in ways we never imagined: shutting schools, offices, shops, factories, grounding airlines, and closing borders. Yet it has, in addition, shown that we have the willpower and the capability to face down dangers; that all of us -families, businesses, and governments have the determination to act drastically and resolutely when the moment calls for it. The coronavirus has moved with frightening speed, and we have responded with urgency, taking the necessary action. We have not faltered to suspend "normal life" because we understand that it is required. Companies all over the world are showing how they can take action to protect people and the most vulnerable. And governments are promptly designing some of the most significant economic incentive packages ever seen in peacetime, to make sure that the damage to economies, companies, and people is minimized and the chances of a strong recovery maximised. The COVID-19 Pandemic has created an international awareness of the need not to return to business as usual and lock in previous practices, pollution, spending, and infrastructure that will cause additional harm to the very economies, communities, and people that 1 Dan Ashe and John E. Scanlon, A Crucial Step Toward Preventing Wildlife-Related Pandemics: We Need to Reform the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)' (Scientific America, 15 June 2020) <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-crucial-step-toward-preven ting-wildlife-related-pandemics/> accessed 30 July 2020. 2 Shield, supra note 54. 3 See Richard, T.C. Impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Biodiversity Conservation (Biological Conservation, 8 April 2020) <https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018context=polis ci.fac> accessed 17 May 2020. 4 WWF urges China to set a Global Example as it Mulls Revision of the Wildlife Protection Law <https://wwf. panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?363735/WWF-urges-China-to-set-a-global-example-as-it-mulls-revision-of-the-Wildlife-Protection-Law> accessed 31 July 2020. 5 Braddick, supra note 59. 6 Richard, supra note 63. 7 Vyawahare, supra note 46. 8  the incentive packages seek out to support. 1 The response to the COVID-19 Pandemic has confirmed what can be done differently, thus, revealing exciting insights on adaptation. The COVID-19 Pandemic has compelled us to adjust our behaviour and adopt new everyday practices in significant ways, not all of which will permanently reverse after restrictions are lifted. New techniques, such as the mass use of online interaction and communication (remote working), are flourishing. 2 More consumer trading and purchasing have moved online; cities are trying-out with converting streets to make room for cycling and walking, and international travel has virtually ceased-although for the time being. These and other developments will not persist unabated, but they will leave their mark on people's lives and our post-COVID-19 pandemic world in unpredictable ways. 3 In the future, we may see less needless interstate and international travel after acknowledging success with remote online conferences, meetings, and even court hearings. Through this, we have already overcome an essential barrier to behaviour change. We can take advantage of this shift. 4 The COVID-19 Pandemic has confirmed that countries can take a common stance against a threat to our collective wellbeing. We have already had almost three decades to control climate change. After over twenty-five years of climate negotiations, frameworks, and agreements, we have made only a little progress towards this objective. As an international society, we appear willing to accept that fighting the climate crisis requires too much sacrifice-at a global, local, and personal level. Hopefully, our response to the COVID-19 Pandemic has opened our eyes to what is possible, and what matters. Appreciating our successes in the fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic can provide insight into how we can confront not only threats to our health but also assaults on the health of the Earth, the source of all life. Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic obligated every one of us to play our part, alter our habits and daily schedules, and make individual sacrifices. 5 Acceptance of the necessity to make sacrifices and accept restraints for both the general good and individual wellbeing could help increase understanding of the huge shifts in regulation and behaviour that are needed to address the climate change crisis. 6 If we can convince ourselves to do alike in the fight against the climate change crisis, we will ultimately see real progress. 7 The outcome of the COVID-19 Pandemic can bring about sustained behavioural changes amongst individuals. 8 For instance, business flying has stopped meetings from happening. Still, people have found ways to work with video conferencing and other cheap technology, forcing businesses to question whether their staffs need to fly as much in the future. 9 A research carried out by Satoshi Fujii at Kyoto University in Japan established that when a motorway is closed, people who own private cars are constrained to make use of public transit. According to the study, the same thing occurred when the road reopened; owners of private vehicles who had previously been dedicated drivers are inclined to travel more regularly by public transport. So, throughout this unprecedented period of COVID-19 Pandemic, habits that are coincidentally good for the climate might be travelling less or, perhaps, reduction in food waste in various households as we experience shortages due to hoarding. 10 According to Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Covid-19 Pandemic has let loosed humanity's instinct to change itself in the face of a widespread threat, and it can assist us in doing the alike to create a liveable planet for future generations. 11 One response to the coronavirus epidemic that has drawn varied reactions from climate scientists is the manner that several communities have taken giant steps to protect one another from the health crisis. The swiftness and degree of the response have given some prospect that rapid action could as well be taken on climate change if the 1 María Mendiluce, 'How We Can All Come Back Better-and Greener-After COVID-19' The Telegraph, (Online, 21 April 2020) <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/how-to-be-green/earth-day-covid-19/> accessed 20 May 2020. 2  threat it poses was urgently treated. 1 Government responses to climate breakdown and the challenges of poverty and inequality must be changed permanently after the COVID pandemic has been tackled, leading scientists have advised, as the actions taken to contain the spread of the virus have revealed what measures are possible in an emergency. The COVID-19 crisis has exposed what governments can do and shone a fresh light on the motivation for previous policies and their outcomes, according to Sir Michael Marmot-professor of epidemiology and public health at University College London, and chair of the commission of the social determinants of health at the World Health Organisation. The speed with which the government had acted showed that the response to an emergency, such as climate change, could be swift and decisive. But the climate crisis has been regarded as a "slow-burn" problem and had not elicited such a response. But, COVID-19 Pandemic exposes that we can do things differently by urgently tackling the climate change crisis and must not go back to the status quo ante. 2 According to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, human activities over the past 50 years had warmed the Earth. These "activities" are mostly industrial activities upon which we depend. The panel is very confident that principal greenhouse gases produced as a result of human activities (nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide) are the source of the increase in the Earth's ambient air and ocean temperatures documented during the past half-century. 3 However, the COVID-19 Pandemic demonstrates to humanity, without a reasonable doubt, that it is possible to slow down or still undo several of these dangerous tendencies of global warming. Humanity has made known that it can be very innovative in dealing with lifethreatening challenges. It is by getting together and addressing those challenges as a global community. 4 The emissions of nitrous oxide, methane, carbon dioxide, and other pollutants have led to a temporary drop from their pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. This emissions reduction has persuaded some persons to hope that our global society may be able to decrease greenhouse gas emissions significantly over the long term in other to tackle and mitigate climate change-the biggest threat to our existence. 5

NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 3.1 Delays In Global Efforts For Environmental Action
The COVID-19 Pandemic is likely to delay global efforts for environmental action, as it is undoubtedly distracting the high-level policy consideration required in 2020. This year was believed to be a transformational year for international environmental law. The schedule of intergovernmental meetings was packed. 6 Not less than eight major United Nations Laws were supposed to be agreed on this 2020. 7 Given the continual uncertainties arising from the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, together with those linked to restrictions on travel and the assembling of large physical gatherings, key environmental negotiations initially scheduled to take place this year have been postponed. Thus, the COVID-19 Pandemic has shed significant uncertainties about the holding of these essential environmental talks by postponing them and risks delaying action and losing momentum. 8 The postponed international environmental negotiations include: 1. The Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. The Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction was postponed by the General Assembly decision 74/543 of March 11, 2020, to the earliest possible available date to be decided by the General Assembly. 9 A decision to adopt a significant new treaty on marine biodiversity to regulate ocean biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction was expected to be taken at this Conference. 10 1 Henriques, supra note 17. 2 8 Duvic-Paoli, supra note 87. 9 Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (United Nations, 2020) <https://www.un.org/bbnj/> accessed 12 August 2020. 10 Degnarain, supra note 88. years to appraise international conservation efforts and scheduled for 11-19 June 2020, has been decided by the IUCN and the French government to now take place from 7-15 January 2021 in Marseilles. 2 4. As agreed by the Bureau, the fifteenth meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (COP-15), initially scheduled for October 2020 to agree on a post-2020 global biodiversity framework and set the next ten years' biodiversity targets by the UN CBD will now be held on 17-30 May 2021, in the Chinese city of Kunming. 3 5. The 2020 United Nations Ocean Conference scheduled to take place from 2-6 June 2020 in Lisbon, Portugal, has been postponed by decision 74/548 adopted by the General Assembly on Monday, April 13, 2020. Cohosts of the Conference Kenya and Portugal, in consultation with the General Assembly, will decide on future dates for the Conference, including timelines for the preparatory process. The 73rd meeting of the CITES Standing Committee was planned to hold from 5 to October 9 in Geneva, but the session will not be held on those dates. By postponing these environmental summits, the valuable political drive may be lost as priorities shift in the wake of COVID-19. Delays to these summits could permit disobedient countries to move the agenda toward COVID-19 health and economic recovery policies, and afar from environmental priorities. 1 Also, in addressing the global COVID-19 Pandemic, international cooperation and coordination are crucial. The same goes for addressing environmental challenges. The year 2020 was intended to be the year of environmental action and bold decisions. As in the case of any international negotiations, side conversations are often critical to the results of such discussions. Yet several international environmental conferences that were to take place in 2020 have been postponed until 2021 or until further notice. 2 For instance, the environmental agenda for 2020, the concluding year of the UN's Decade on Biodiversity, was set to conclude in October in Kunming, China, with the Convention on Biological Diversity's 15th Conference of Parties. Delegates from 196 countries scheduled to convene to finalize negotiations on an international biodiversity policy framework to replace the 2010 Aichi Biodiversity Targets expiring at the end of the year. Organizers are now taking into consideration a makeup date for the critical CBD summit sometime in the second quarter of 2021-precisely on 17-30 May 2021. Experts worry the world will lose vital time to turn around frightening tendencies in biodiversity loss and climate change. The resources apportioned to fight the COVID-19 Pandemic might mean fewer resources for biodiversity initiatives later on. The postponement comes at a significant time for biodiversity. Environmental degradation is increasing globally, and over a million species are at danger of extinction, according to the 2019 Report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. According to Linda Krueger, senior policy adviser for the United States-based NGO, the Nature Conservancy, any delay is going to make the eventual solutions much tougher. 3

Relaxation Of Environmental Regulations And Enforcements
The United Nations Special Rapporteur 4 on human rights and the environment-David Boyd has cautioned and appealed that countries must not use the COVID-19 Pandemic as an excuse to weaken environmental protection and enforcement. This warning by the UN Special Rapporteur comes after several governments have announced that they are lowering environmental standards, suspending environmental monitoring requirements, reducing environmental enforcement, and restricting public participation or other related measures. 5 Suspending environmental regulations and enforcement, according to David Boyd, are irrational, irresponsible, and jeopardize the rights of billions of people, particularly those who are already in danger to environmental damage as well as indigenous peoples, people living in poverty, elderly, women, minorities and children. 6 The short-term decision to weaken or suspend environmental regulations and enforcements will make things even worse. 7 Such policy decisions are prone to cause a speedy decline in the environment. They have adverse effects on a broad scope of human rights, comprising the rights to life, health, water, culture, and food, in addition to the right to live in a healthy environment. 8 Instead, governments have to speed up efforts to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals since a healthy environment is an efficient means to prevent future pandemics and safeguard human rights. Given the universal environmental predicament that predates the COVID-19 Pandemic, States should intensify their endeavours to protect the environment, not step back. 9 Examples of countries whose response to the COVID-19 Pandemic has been used as an excuse to relax their environmental standards, monitoring requirements, regulations, and enforcement are as discussed below:

United States Lowers Vehicle Emission Standards, Relaxes the Enforcement of Monitoring and Reporting Requirements of Environmental Protection for Companies, and Opens Up the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to Commercial Fishing
In the United States, President Trump's administration has announced two significant changes at the federal level. Firstly, fuel efficiency standards for new cars were drastically reduced. A rollback on the car emissions rules that were a central piece of US efforts to decrease greenhouse gas emissions could result in increased gasoline consumption by 80 billion tons, increasing carbon emissions in the atmosphere. The lowering of federal vehicle 1 See Degnarian, supra note 88. 2 Brach, supra note 24. 3  emission standards, according to some, could lead to years of environmental regulatory uncertainty. 1 In reaction, Greenpeace USA Senior Climate Campaigner Caroline Henderson said that by lowering fuel efficiency standards, the USA's current administration is condemning thousands of more people to die from air pollution. Rolling back fuel efficiency standards will amplify disease-causing particulate matter and aggravate the global climate emergency. 2 Earthjustice Staff Attorney-Paul Cort, expressing disapproval of the fuel efficiency standards reduction, noted that amid a public health crisis, the Trump government is once again placing oil industry profits ahead of the American people. Weakening clean car standards will significantly increase air pollution and harm public health. Transportation, according to Cort, is the major source of carbon pollution in the US, and that this move undercuts one of the country's most vital tools to solve the climate crisis. 3 The clean car standards, pronounced by the Obama government in 2012, intended to cut carbon pollution from new vehicles in half by 2025. They were intended to generate about 650,000 jobs, save consumers about $50 billion in 2030, and decrease climate pollution by 280 million metric tons in 2030. 4 Secondly, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is relaxing the enforcement of monitoring and reporting requirements of environmental protection for companies for an indefinite time, if the company can show a COVID-19 connected reason for non-compliance. 5 According to USEPA's top compliance official, Susan P. Bodine, the policy sets new guidelines for companies to monitor themselves for an undetermined period during the COVID-19 and noted that the USEPA would not issue fines for breaches of certain air, water, and hazardouswaste-reporting requirements. Companies are generally required to report when their factories discharge certain levels of pollution into the air or water. 6 Disapproving this decision, Amnesty International is of the view that the Trump administration is cynically abusing this crisis to achieve its pre-COVID-19 goal of gutting US environmental regulations. It is hard to exaggerate the risk. The decision to indefinitely suspend the protections given by environmental laws will kill or compromise the health of large numbers of people. According to Amnesty, these impacts will be felt by everyone in the USA, but mainly by people already facing marginalization and discrimination, as well as those who live in regions surrounded by heavily polluting industrial facilities. USEPA enforcement of environmental laws saves hundreds of thousands of people from premature death every year, and millions more from preventable illnesses and sicknesses. This decision, in Amnesty's view, should be immediately revoked. 7 Thirdly, President Donald Trump recently issued a proclamation that opens up the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to commercial fishing, risking the destruction of this sensitive and biologically crucial marine reserve by resource extraction activities, for example, bottom-scouring fishing. It is noteworthy that the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is a distinctive and remarkable ocean region off the coast of New England. Designated as a monument in 2016, it is the first significant marine national monument established in the US Atlantic Ocean. This protected region offers food, shelter, and nursery habitat to an amazing collection of marine life, as well as endangered whales, puffins, sea turtles, and uncommon deep-sea cold-water corals. The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument protect 4,913 square miles of pristine ocean ecosystem-an area almost the size of Connecticut, covering 1.5 percent of US federal waters on the East Coast. The monument is a safe haven (refuge) for marine life and offers a defence for the Northwest Atlantic against the worst effects of climate change. The national monument designation is intended to protect the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts from commercial extractive activities, plus commercial fishing and oil and gas drilling. 8 www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-3240 (Paper) ISSN 2224-3259 (Online) Vol.101, 2020 Kicking against the Presidential proclamation, Steve Mashuda, Earthjustice's Managing Attorney of its Oceans Program, frowned that amid two national crises over systemic racism and a pandemic that rages on, the president has decided to prioritize opening up a national monument to commercial fishing, whilst weakening core environmental laws that protect people and the environment. According to Mashuda, it is not clear if President Trump is aware of the irony of shredding protections for Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument on World Environment Day and during National Oceans Month, however, it is nonetheless intensely disturbing he would try to do this at all. He noted the issue of tackling a global extinction crisis that impacts the whole web of life, and that the proclamation is an assault on an ocean refuge that numerous marine wildlife depend on. Claims that the fishing industry will benefit from this action, according to Mashuda, are grossly overstated, as was made obvious by government documents in 2017. He stated further that they condemn this action and are looking at every tool they have to support the fight against it. 1

Canada Suspends Its Reporting and Monitoring Requirements under Its Environmental Law Regime, and Removes the Requirements for Public Consultation on Environmental Issues
Governments in Canada have used the COVID-19 Pandemic crisis to curb environmental protections for communities and ecosystems. The province of Alberta is amongst the few provinces that recently suspended the reporting and monitoring requirements under its environmental law regime. 2 For instance, Alberta suspended reporting requirements under numerous environmental acts, with the exception of drinking water facilities. Afterward, changes by the Alberta Energy Regulator removed several monitoring requirements for oil companies, including monitoring surface water, groundwater, and wildlife in tailings ponds. 3 Lately, Alberta, in addition, opened to a large extent the Eastern Rocky Mountains and Foothills to open-pit coal mining without public consultation. This change will restrict public access to land to enjoy hiking, camping, and fishing. 4 Further, the province of Ontario has removed the requirements for public consultation on environmental issues during the current state of emergency. Usually, projects that affect the environment have a 30-day consultation period. The consultation period allows the public, including scientists, to comment on proposed projects or policies, for instance, permits that could affect endangered species or the approval of mining projects.

China Temporarily Suspends Environmental Standards for Small Businesses
As China resumes its economy, the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced in mid-March 2020 that it would momentarily suspend environmental standards for small businesses to hasten economic recovery. This has been condemned by key environmental groups such as the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF). 5 According to the Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air data, China's provinces approved an additional new coal-fired facility between January 1 and June 15, 2020, than for the period of 2018 and 2019 put together. As a significant emitter of the world's greenhouse gases, China's coal capacity surge risks pushing emissions beyond pre-COVID-19 Pandemic levels.

Brazil Reduces Surveillance of Amazon Rainforest
In March 2020, owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, the two environmental enforcement agencies of Brazil announced that it is cutting back on its enforcement responsibilities, such as protecting the Amazon from increasing deforestation. As a result, Brazil has seen an increase in illegal logging. That could lead to the release of enormous quantities of greenhouse gases stored in one of the world's most essential carbon sinks. 6 Thus, fewer Government environmental enforcement officers are going into the Amazon, and environmental monitoring efforts have been scaled back. Indigenous populations, who usually defend the Amazon against illegal logging, miners, and wildfires, are retreating further into the forest to avoid the COVID-19 outbreak. Such surveillance had been adequate in the trumps-rollback-of-marine-monume nt-in-midst-of-pandemic-and-nationwide-crisis-over?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social> accessed 30 July 2020.
bushmeat and ivory poaching, as well as an increase in charcoal production, which has been banned since 2018.
In Tunisia, over two nights in early April 2020, a group of persons in the northwest area of Ain Draham illegally felled 400 trees, a species referred to as Algerian oak, which is in the United Nations listing of endangered species, the country's forestry agency noted. When the authorities arrested eight individuals a few days later, they made known the trees, some of which had been standing for over 300 years, had been turned into charcoal. An additional 1,000 trees -oak and fern -were cut down in the night in the same region in Ain Draham on April 8, 2020, according to National Guard spokesman Houssemeddine Jebabli. 1 From the time when Tunisia went into lockdown on March 22, the forestry bureau has raised 200 legal cases for breaches against the forest code, comprising illegal logging, unauthorised construction, and hunting in forest areas. That is ten times the number of cases in the same period last year, according to Mohamed Boufaroua, the Ministry of Agriculture general director of forestry. Mohamed stated further that the curfew gives cover to illegal loggers with fewer people around to apprehend them in the act, and that they (illegal loggers) want to take advantage of this period of confinement. According to Tunisia's forestry agency data, Tunisia's oak forests covered 140,000 hectares (346,000 acres) in 1970. Of that, there were 10,000 hectares of Algerian oak trees. Today, the species is down to 8,350 hectares (20,633 acres) out of 95,000 hectares of oak overall. Cutting down the Algerian oak is a criminal offence in Tunisia. 2 While poaching incidents have become more frequent in these countries, evidence suggests that two main factors could be driving these trends. 3 The first is that criminal groups and opportunistic actors involved in landgrabbing, deforestation, illegal mining, and wildlife poaching are expanding their activities, taking advantage of lockdown and diminished forest monitoring and weak enforcement efforts since governments are currently focused on COVID-19 Pandemic crisis instead of on conservation. The second is that individuals living in these rural areas are facing increased economic pressures and are compelled to depend more greatly on the environment for food and income. In some instances, such as Madagascar and Cambodia, there has been a sizeable urban-rural migration as individuals lose their jobs in the cities or go back home to be with their families for the period of quarantine, which has put additional pressure on local environments. 4 According to Michael O'Brien-Onyeka, senior vicepresident of Conservation International's Africa Field Division, in Africa's rural areas, one driver of this surge is the problem people are facing in finding their next meal. During a lockdown, people cannot go to work, particularly those in the informal market-who depend on going out every single day to make ends meet and come back with some food. For example, the man in the rural area who takes out his motorcycle taxi to go out and pick passengers to make some money cannot do that anymore. 5

Impact On Environmental Nonprofits
The role of environmental advocacy by environmental nonprofits (environmental non-governmental organizations) 6 has never been more critical, given the planetary crisis. 7 According to Ed Henry, President, and CEO of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the nonprofits sector is necessary to building a just and thriving society. At this moment, their work is more critical than ever. 8 However, the near-global lockdown in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic represents a typical example of an unprecedented interruption of economies and financial systems and an essential threat to nonprofits. 1 With lower economic activities, environmental nonprofits around the world are reporting smaller donations. 2 In the age of COVID-19 Pandemic, nonprofits are seeing donations drop, doors close, and cash reserves dwindle. 3 Many nonprofits organizations rely on events to bring in new members or donations crucial to keeping their operations running. Financial troubles worry these groups, who are spending more of their time figuring out how to maintain employee levels while also trying to carry out their organizations' environmental purposes. 4 These financial strains are leaving environmental nonprofits unable to carry on with their work to promote environmental advocacy. 5 The economic crisis owing to the COVID-19 Pandemic is already impacting the financial health and wellbeing of nonprofits. In the US alone, nonprofits employ over 10 percent of the private workforce or approximately 12.3 million people. According to a Nonprofits Finance Fund Survey in 2018, almost 75 percent of nonprofits do not have six months of cash reserves. The financial fallout of the COVID-19 Pandemic is being felt as nonprofits are experiencing postponed programming and revenue-generating events, threatened academic enrolments, cancelled artistic seasons, fewer grants from foundations given lower endowments, reduced corporate sponsorship, and prospects that government contracts are at risk due to shortfalls in government budgets. In the latest CAF America Survey, 73 percent of nonprofits say they have already seen a decrease in contributions. Half said they expect to see revenue declined by over 20 percent over the next year. In contrast, the requirement for services is expected to increase due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Further, economics and fundraising professionals forecast that the fall in charitable giving will possibly be more significant compared to that of the Great Recession in 2008 and that recovery will probably take longer. 6 According to a May 13, 2020 report from the Charities Aid Foundation of America, almost 95 percent of nonprofits worldwide say they have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. A follow-up to a survey carried out in late March, the report, The Voices of Charities Facing COVID-19 Worldwide Vol. 2, found that 94.4 percent of eight hundred and eighty organizations in a hundred and twenty-two countries surveyed between April 30 and May 6, 2020, reported negative impacts from the global health COVID-19 Pandemic crisis. 7 According to a report from the Unemployment Services Trust, nearly a third of US nonprofits have reduced headcount or suspended operations as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 8 Since the COVID-19 strike, donations have fallen for more than two-thirds of nonprofits organizations, and 10 percent have stopped operations, according to a recent survey by the Charities Aid Foundation of America. According to a recent study of nonprofits, a staggering 97 percent of respondents anticipate their funding to decline through the next 12 months as the struggling economy and social distancing hurt fundraising efforts. 9 A study conducted in early April 2020 by Charity Navigator in partnership with Reuters News reported that most nonprofits are suffering financially, cutting down on their programmes and laid off staff due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. 10 Most environmental nonprofits have cancelled their fundraising events intended to raise revenue through donations. It is noteworthy that most environmental nonprofits depend on donations from fundraising programmes for their work. According to Earthwatch-an environmental nonprofit: Earthwatch depends on donations-above and beyond what we raise from volunteers who participate in our expeditions-in order to deliver our global conservation mission. In fact, volunteer contributions provide only half of the total resources Earthwatch needs to sustain over 40 field research expeditions, a wide variety of educational programs, corporate sustainability trainings, and more each year. 1 Also, environmental nonprofits' staffs are now facing the challenge of being unable to conduct their work internationally. These are challenges facing all non-governmental organizations (nonprofits) but may hit environmental groups notably stronger, given the global travel restrictions measures imposed by several countries as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 2

Acute Challenges For The Waste Management Industry Caused By Rises In Volumes Of Unrecyclable Medical Waste
The considerable rise in medical waste due to the COVID-19 Pandemic has already had tremendous impacts on the waste sector. 3 The increasing spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic is posing significant challenges to the waste industry, putting authorities, and waste workers under considerable pressure. 4 Medical care facilities have experienced an explosion in the use of particular types of medical supplies, which has caused a rapid increase in medical waste. These medical supplies include disposable gloves, surgical masks, face and nose masks, bottles of sanitizers, water-proof protective gowns, rubber boots, rubber apron, soiled-tissue papers, and other personal protective equipment (PPE). These medical supplies and PPEs are critical for those fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic but are also widely used by the public. While these medical supplies and PPE are shielding us from the spread of COVID-19 Pandemic, significant numbers are entering the natural environment-they are ending up on the streets, in the seas, and among wildlife, because they are not always disposed of properly. Thus, adding to the worldwide burden of waste to the waste management industry. 5 Given that surgical masks are not supposed to be worn for more than one day, their disposal, along with that of empty hand sanitizer bottles, soiled-tissue papers, and other PPEs, is leading to a stalk of massive medical waste in the environment. In Hong Kong, for instance, which has been fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic since January 2020, medical waste has already started polluting the environment. 6 Discarded face masks are piling up on Hong Kong's beaches and nature trails, with environmental groups warning that the waste is posing a massive threat to marine life and wildlife habitats. 7 According to the WHO's health guidelines, used face masks and soiled tissues must be thrown only into lidded litter bins. Simultaneously, any medical gear used by affected patients and hospital staff must be sterilized and burnt at high temperatures in dedicated incinerators. Only modern incinerators operating at 850-1100°C, with special gas-cleaning equipment, can burn these items by international emission standards. 8 Unfortunately, not all countries or regions can adequately deal with the sudden rise in medical waste generated due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Take the case of Wuhan, for instance. The Chinese city which has been at the spotlight of the COVID-19 Pandemic and which is home to over 11 million people is accounted to have generated 200 tons of medical trash on a single day (February 24, 2020), four times the amount the city's only dedicated facility can incinerate per day. 9 According to the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), the  1 With the import restrictions emergence in export markets and quick declines in the availability of cargo transportation services, the COVID-19 Pandemic crisis has led to increased volumes of un-shippable agricultural and fishery commodities. Because this waste is left to decay, it has led to large quantities of organic waste. Several export-oriented producers produce quantities far too vast for output to be absorbed in local markets, and therefore organic waste levels have increased significantly. 2 Local waste concerns have surfaced as lots of municipalities have suspended their recycling activities over fears of virus propagation in recycling centres. 3 The 'reduce, reuse, and recycle' sustainable lifestyle mantra is chucked into the dustbin as institutions and governments churn out medical waste while reverting to use-once-and-dispose stance for fear of the COVID-19 virus spread. 4 All these developments have created severe challenges for the waste management industry at a period when they are functioning with inadequate capacity as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 5

COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A CALL TO STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
The COVID-19 Pandemic that is presently ravaging the world has highlighted the importance of having a safe, clean, and sustainable natural environment 6 and, thus, signifies an urgent call to strike a balance between economic growth and environmental protection. For instance, so long as the COVID-19 Pandemic keeps economic activities reduced, greenhouse gas emissions-a primary source of environmental degradation will remain relatively low. 7 The current 2020 economic lockdowns designed to minimize the spread of COVID-19, temporarily pressed the pause button on environmental degradation, and the subsequent reductions in air pollution have been dramatic. Such tendencies remind us how a great deal our actions drive environmental quality and how poorly we have acted as stewards of our environment. In light of how powerfully COVID-19 responses appear to have slowed environmental degradation, an essential question is how we will act as humans afterwards. Just as the present Pandemic is motivating us to rethink several cultural institutions, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink the way we grow back our economies in a manner that does not endanger the global environment as we have in recent decades. 8 Claims that protecting the environment would collapse economies were not simply short-sighted, but as well counterproductive. It is environmental destruction that has crashed the world economy to a halt. This provides a golden opportunity to entrench environmental protection and restoration in our economic systems. 9 The degradation of our planet is not just an environmental problem; it presents serious global economic risks too. Our economies, livelihoods, and wellbeing all rely on the environment, from the food we eat to controlling our climate, regulating disease, and as a place of recreation. Without the environment, there would be no life. COVID-19 is the environment sending us a message. In fact, it reads like SOS signals for the human enterprise, bringing into sharp focus the need to live within the planet's means. The environmental, health, and economic cost of failing to do so are disastrous. 10 COVID-19 is clearly a wake-up call that we must start living within our environmental boundaries. 11 Global businesses know at the moment that success is not possible without a healthy environment. Before coronavirus, the need to create more resilient economies and societies were clear, now it is inescapable. Healthy societies, resilient economies, and thriving businesses rely on the environment. 12 It would be short-sighted to conclude, for example, that the sudden reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is a long-lasting environmental enhancement as emissions will most possibly rise to previous levels when economic activities pick up as the crisis resolves. 1 In other words, if, as we all hope, economies recover quickly from this disruption, carbon emissions will bounce back too. Emissions may grow even more rapidly if countries prioritize economic growth over environmental protection. 2 After the global financial crisis of 2008, for example, global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production grew by 5.9% in 2010, more than offsetting the 1.4% decrease in 2009. 3 Thus, while some see great hope for global efforts for environmental action, for example, action on climate change, in our response to COVID-19, others are of the view that reduction in emissions hasn't impacted the climate itself and that we shouldn't expect it to unless the decrease in emissions is sustained for several years into the future. 4 As we start to recover from COVID-19, we will have to think about how to rebuild our world and the global economy. We should take this opportunity to direct our actions towards stronger environmental protection. Global environmental experts have been calling on our capability to change and embrace transformations to make our ways of life more sustainable for a long time. We can heed to this call by making many smart, sustainable investments to avert another outbreak. We also have to take climate action to avoid future pandemics. For instance, preventing deforestation-a root cause of climate change can help stem biodiversity loss as well as slow animal migrations that can increase the risk of infectious disease spread. The COVID-19 Pandemic will only have longterm environmental positive impacts if we choose to stop sacrificing the environment's health for profit, convenience, and consumption, and find sustainable ways to inhabit our world by fostering a balance between economic growth and environmental protection. 5 COVID-19 Pandemic provides a golden opportunity to entrench environmental protection and restoration in our economic systems. 6 We must refuse to give in to the temptation to re-institute a pattern of environmental destruction, and must instead 'reinvent'-turn this period of crisis into an opportunity to build a 21st-century economy and society 7 that takes the environment's true value into account. 8 According to Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, we must shift away from a development model that puts economic growth first, while hoping to wipe out the environmental damages and to compensate for the social effects of enlarged inequalities after that. The model of growth itself should incorporate environmental sustainability and social justice from the start. 9 It will help us to build the biggest industrial market of the century, as it has become today more advantageous to protect the environment than to destroy it. 10 However, the global community can live sustainably and responsibly. The quick and sudden improvement of the Earth's air quality and substantial decrease in global air pollution, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, is a reminder that by striking a balance between economic growth and environmental protection, we can live in harmony and have a positive impact on our environment. 11

CONCLUSION
The COVID-19 Pandemic has had both positive and negative impacts on international environmental protection. To sustain the positive impacts and avoid the negative impacts brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic on international environmental protection. The author recommends that global leaders should be more proactive and innovative by strengthening, incorporating, and implementing environmental protection measures that will have sustained practical effects on the environment. More specifically, the various countries of the world should maintain the reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by transit to a low-carbon economy through the use of low-carbon technology in their industrial and transportation sectors. A low carbon economy, also known as lowfossil-fuel economy or decarbonised economy is an economy founded on low carbon power sources that thus has a minimum output of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. A transition to a low-carbon economy will