Over the past months the corona pandemic has not only impacted people's private life through social distancing, but has had more far reaching consequences with regard to the overall economy, climate and diplomacy. This lecture series will shed light on four key issues:

Climate Change

The lockdowns that lead to a severe reduction in economic activities and the resulting reduction in the emission of green house gases has allowed some countries to reach their 2020 climate targets. However, the overall issue of climate change remains unresolved and, while the world seeks to address the virus, the problem of climate change has been out of the public eye. One thus has to ask how the Covid crisis has impacted our efforts to combat climate change and if our objectives are still reachable.

Economy

While essential workers continue to work with new protective gear and stricter hygene measures, many jobs have shifted online and millions of people world-wide are facing unemployment. With a new recession looming, the question arises how to we wish to re-build our economy to make it more sustainable and more shock resistant.

Mutlilateralism

The pandemic has affected people globally and both lead to a renewed show of solidarity and cooperation between nations, while at the same time leading to the renewal of resentments and suspicions. Meanwhile, the usual diplomatic channels of communications and all in-person meetings during international conferences had to shift online with significant consequences. One thus has to ask how the pandemic has influenced multilateralism.

Gender

Several studies suggest that the pandemic has had a disproportional impact on women and especially working mothers. The question thus arises what effect the pandemic has had on our efforts to achieve gender equality and how any negative effects might be mitigated.