COVID-19 and Recovery
Index
Notable News
Research & Insights
Climate Change & Viruses/Diseases
COVID-19 Implications for Business & Sustainability
Insights & Recommendations for COVID Recovery Efforts
Collaboration
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Notable News
Notable Corporate COVID-19 Action
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TRANE TECHNOLOGIES — Thermo King, a brand of Trane Technologies, launched a new air purification system for public buses, independently proven to be 98% effective in deactivating certain viruses, including a surrogate for the virus that causes COVID-19. (April 2021)
MICROSOFT/ LINKEDIN — Microsoft announced “Career Connector,” a new service to help 50,000 people affected by the coronavirus pandemic enter into tech-enabled jobs over the next 3 years, with a specific focus on women and underrepresented minorities. The announcement builds on the success of its global skills initiative launched last summer with LinkedIn, which provided 30.7 million people with free digital skills training. (April 2021)
CITIGROUP — Announced “Zoom-free Fridays” to allow workers to avoid being on camera for internal calls every Friday to address the “the blurring of lines between home and work and the relentlessness of the pandemic workday,” according to CEO Jane Fraser. (March 2021)
Over 170 CEOs from U.S. companies issued a public letter to Congress backing President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and urged rapid, bipartisan adoption. CEF member companies involved included BlackRock, Comcast, Google, JetBlue, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, Siemens, and Visa. (March 2021)
Walgreens and Uber partnered to offer free rides to Walgreens stores and clinics for people in underserved communities with a vaccine appointment but no transportation access. (February 2021)
Google announced $150 million in donations to promote vaccine education and equitable access and will open up Google spaces to serve at vaccination sites as needed. The company will also begin to show state and regional vaccine distribution information in search results to help people find accurate and timely information. (January 2021)
Corporate COVID-19 Response Trackers
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Steering Sustainability in the Era of COVID (CEF not-for-attribution roundtables, March 2020) Notes
Just Capital Corporate Response to COVID Tracker
"WBCSD How business is responding to COVID-19" - links to announcements from WBCSD members companies and others who are taking extra-ordinary business actions in relation to COVID-19
US Chamber of Commerce Foundation Corporate Aid Tracker: COVID-19 Business in Action
Fortune tracker: How Global 500 companies are utilizing their resources and expertise during the coronavirus pandemic - focuses on how companies are using their services, infrastructure, products, equipment, and expertise to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and help their employees and customers get through this crisis.
Truvalue Labs: Coronavirus ESG Monitor - Uses AI to capture the real-time impact of COVID-19 through material categories defined by the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board™ (SASB™). Signals cover social impact, labor, supply chain, corporate operational responses and the economy. Updated in real time to identify the most pressing issues as they unfold, as the identification of material issues underscores where investors should assess a company’s performance through a global pandemic.
See also TEMBO Tracker of Trackers
COVID Recovery: Insights & Recommendations
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Nearly 30% of workers do not feel safe and protected from COVID-19 at their workplace, according to a survey by JUST Capital and The Harris Poll, with support from the Ford Foundation. Workers were twice as likely to say management is only doing the minimum requirements to keep workers healthy and safe compared to employers (32% of workers vs. 14% of employers) and that workers’ health and safety were often set aside for the sake of profits (37% of workers vs. 19% of employers). (March 2021)
“Coming Back Stronger: A City-Driven Infrastructure Agenda for a Cleaner, More Resilient, More Equitable America” (Rocky Mountain Institute and Bloomberg Philanthropies, December 2020) offers ideas for infrastructure investments across six sectors to build back a stronger America. The six sectors include: Access and mobility; buildings; power; broadband; water; and natural systems.
“A Green Recovery: The Case for Climate-Forward Stimulus Policies in America’s COVID-19 Recession Response” (The Roosevelt Institute, November 2020) argues that a green recovery can provide immediate economic relief in the U.S. and offers recommendations for fast-acting green stimulus policies to enhance immediate relief efforts. The report also highlights examples from other nations that have led the way on green recovery measures.
“Assessment of Green Recovery Plans After COVID-19” (Cambridge Econometrics and We Mean Business Coalition, October 2020) explores the economic, social, and environmental benefits of implementing a ‘green recovery plan’ and a ‘return-to-normal plan’ at a global level, EU level, and for six countries. At a global level, the report finds that a ‘green recovery plan’ would result in better outcomes for GDP and employment than the ‘return-to-normal plan,’ while reducing emissions by 7% globally.
“Jobs for a Strong and Sustainable Recovery From COVID-19” (Centre for Economic Performance and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, October 2020) makes the case for prioritizing green job investment in the UK government’s COVID-19 recovery plan. The report identifies six key areas that could create tens of thousands of jobs and help the government meet its net-zero emissions goal:
- Energy efficiency in buildings
- Natural capital projects
- Active travel equipment and infrastructure
- Renewable power generation, distribution and storage
- Electric vehicle production and charging infrastructure
- Carbon capture, use and storage, and blue and green hydrogen production
“It’s Not Easy Being Green: Stimulus Spending in the World’s Major Economies” (Rhodium Group, September 2020) assess the
comparative scale of total COVID-19 related stimulus spending on green measures to date across the
world’s four largest economies—the United States, the European Union, China, and India. The report finds that the
EU and its member states lead the group ($249 billion in total spending on green measures or 20% of total stimulus funds), followed by the United States ($26 billion or 1.1% of total stimulus funds), China ($1.43 billion or 1.9% of total stimulus funds), and India ($830 million or 2.4% of total stimulus funds).
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“The Future of Nature and Business” (World Economic Forum and AlphaBeta, July 2020) sets out how 15 transitions in three socio-economic systems — food, land and ocean use, infrastructure and the built environment, and energy and extractives — could generate up to $10.1 trillion in annual business value and create 395 million jobs by 2030. The report estimates that $2.7 trillion of total annual investment would be required through 2030 to scale the transitions.
G20 nations have committed nearly $151 billion of economic recovery funding to support fossil fuels since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, according to the latest data from the Energy Policy Tracker. The data also reveals that G20 nations committed just $88 billion to support clean energy over the same period. (July 2020)
C40 Cities released the C40 Mayors’ Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery, which outlines “bold steps to deliver an equitable and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.” (July 2020)
“Achieving a Green Recovery for China: Putting Zero-Carbon Electrification at the Core” (Rocky Mountain Institute, June 2020) suggests four core priorities to guide future pandemic stimulus and recovery efforts in China. The four priorities include the following:
- Accelerate investment in zero-carbon electrification. This should combine increased investment in wind and solar capacity, ultra-high voltage transmission lines, energy storage, and distribution grids, plus the accelerated rollout of EV charging infrastructure.
- Strengthen investment in “new” technology-based forms of infrastructure, such as 5G, artificial intelligence, IoT, data centers, and optical fiber.
- Ensure that investment in traditional infrastructure supports green and energy efficient urbanization.
- Promote green consumption, including support for electric vehicles and more efficient electric heating systems.
“Sustainable Recovery” (International Energy Agency, June 2020) lays out a three-year energy sector roadmap for governments to boost global economic growth by an average of 1.1% annually, save or create roughly 9 million jobs annually, and reduce annual global energy-related GHG emissions by a total of 4.5 billion metric tons. The Sustainable Recovery Plan, if implemented, would require global investment of about $1 trillion annually over the next three years.
“US Stimulus Strategy: Recommendations for a Zero-Carbon Economic Recovery” (Rocky Mountain Institute, June 2020) suggests four core programs to guide future pandemic stimulus and recovery efforts in the United States. The four programs include the following:
- Build Back Better Buildings: A building retrofit program to catalyze residential and commercial building improvements at an unprecedented scale.
- Enhance Access and Electrify Mobility: Investment to prioritize pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit over the automobile, while also supporting the growth of the electric vehicle market.
- Debt Forgiveness for a Sustainable Recovery: A financial incentive program to provide companies with debt relief based on verifiable emissions reductions.
- Economic Recovery Facility for Financing Low- and Zero-Carbon Activities: A federal entity dedicated to facilitating the financing of clean energy and infrastructure projects.
“Global Stimulus Principles: The Economy We Build Should Not Be the Same Economy We Decarbonize” (Rocky Mountain Institute, June 2020) suggests four core principles to guide global pandemic stimulus and recovery efforts. The four principles include the following:
- Create jobs and grow the economy: prioritize investments with the greatest job creation and economic growth potential.
- Support public health and reduce air pollution: in light of the current COVID-19 crisis, support industries and technologies with the potential to improve public health.
- Enhance economic, energy and climate resilience: prioritize the industries, technologies and systems that help people weather or adapt to unexpected shocks or crises.
- Decarbonize: prioritize investments that will enable the world to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global temperature rise to well below 2.0⁰C with best efforts to limit warming even further to 1.5⁰C.
Research & Tools
Climate Change & Viruses/Diseases
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A new study in Nature Climate Change found that 58% of 375 different infectious diseases have been worsened by ten climatic hazards, such as flooding, heat waves, and drought. 16% were found at times to be diminished—though could be exacerbated simultaneously (such as drought reducing overall mosquito populations but concentrating them at remaining water pools). (Aug 2022)
A new study in the peer-reviewed journal, Nature, models new cross-species disease vectors from increased interactions among mammals—including humans—as they migrate in reaction to climate change. Most of the estimated 4,000 novel cross-species viral transmissions through 2070 will take place at high elevations, in biodiversity hotspots, and in high population density areas of Asia and Africa, but those that take hold in humans can then spread globally. The study’s authors were surprised their models indicate these range shifts, already underway, will not be substantially reduced by holding global temperature rise to 2°C or less, prompting them to more integrated surveillance and preparedness. (May 2022)
COVID-19 Implications for Business & Sustainability
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A new study in the peer-reviewed journal, Nature, models new cross-species disease vectors from increased interactions among mammals—including humans—as they migrate in reaction to climate change. Most of the estimated 4,000 novel cross-species viral transmissions through 2070 will take place at high elevations, in biodiversity hotspots, and in high population density areas of Asia and Africa, but those that take hold in humans can then spread globally. The study’s authors were surprised their models indicate these range shifts, already underway, will not be substantially reduced by holding global temperature rise to 2°C or less, prompting them to more integrated surveillance and preparedness. (May 2022)
32 companies that have prioritized their workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
(e.g., by establishing safety practices, disclosing demographic details to drive racial equity, worker benefits)
have outperformed companies on the Russell 1000 by 8.6%, according to a JUST Capital
ranking of companies “leading for their workers” by industry. CEF members
BlackRock, Chevron, Comcast, Dow, Ford, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Lockheed Martin, McKesson,
and Procter & Gamble are among the 32 companies featured. (Sept 2021)
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2021 Sustainability Leaders (GlobeScan, the SustainAbility Institute by ERM) — A survey of nearly 700 sustainability experts in over 70 countries on how the pandemic will affect the global sustainable development agenda. The experts rank the top 15 companies displaying corporate sustainability leadership, including Unilever as #1 and Microsoft, Danone, Google, and Walmart. (Aug 2021)
Governments' COVID-19 economic recovery plans have been much less climate-friendly than advocates and multilateral agencies called for last year, according to reports by the International Energy Agency and BloombergNEF. (July 2021)
- The IEA report found that as of Q2 2021, $380 billion (or 2%) of the $16 trillion global fiscal response has been devoted to clean-energy measures.
- The BloombergNEF report, which measured G20 nations, found $363 billion has been allocated for various "green" efforts and $1.2 trillion for carbon-intensive sectors.
2021 Financing for Sustainable Development Report (UN Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development) — Warns COVID-19 could lead to a lost decade for development and outlines opportunities to rebuild better by mobilizing investments in people and infrastructure. (April 2021)
2021 Work Trend Index (Microsoft) — Examines trends shaping the future of a hybrid work world, based on a study of more than 30,000 people in 31 countries and an analysis of trillions of productivity and labor signals across Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn. Key findings (March 2021):
- Flexible work is here to stay
- Leaders are out of touch with employees and need a wake-up call
- High productivity is masking an exhausted workforce
- Gen Z is at risk and will need to be re-energized
- Shrinking networks are endangering innovation
- Authenticity will spur productivity and wellbeing
- Talent is everywhere in a hybrid work world
COVID-19 Market Analysis For Sustainability & Safety Professionals (Acre) (March 2021)
- Analyzes impacts of COVID-19 on the safety, sustainability, ESG, and energy professions.
- Explores 3 key positive trends emerging in recruitment and in the workplace as a result of the pandemic.
Only 18% ($368 billion of $14.6 trillion) of 2020 pandemic economic recovery spending by the world's 50 largest economies can be considered “green," according to a new report by the U.N. and the University of Oxford. (March 2021)
“COVID-19 and the Push for Gender Equality” (McKinsey & Co., August 2020) examines the link between gender equality in the workplace and global GDP growth through 2030 under three scenarios: “do-nothing,” “wait to take action,” and “take action now.” The research finds that the global value of achieving best-in-region gender-parity improvements by 2030 could add $13 trillion to global GDP, an 11% increase compared to the “do-nothing” scenario.
"From thinking about the next normal to making it work: What to stop, start, and accelerate" (By Kevin Sneader and Shubham Singhal, McKinsey, May 2020) outlines seven actions that have come up repeatedly in the authors' discussions with business leaders around the world under the following big themes:
- From ‘sleeping at the office’ to effective remote working
- From lines and silos to networks and teamwork
- From just-in-time to just-in-time and just-in-case supply chains
- From managing for the short term to capitalism for the long term
- From making trade-offs to embedding sustainability
- From online commerce to a contact-free economy
- From simply returning to returning and reimagining
“COVID-19: Facts and Insights” (McKinsey & Co.) provides business leaders with a perspective on the evolving COVID-19 situation and implications for their companies. The report also includes example measures that organizations have deployed to protect their employees and stabilize their supply chain.
"The future is not what it used to be: Thoughts on the shape of the next normal" (By Kevin Sneader and Shubham Singhal, McKinsey, April 2019)
The world remade by COVID-19: Planning scenarios for resilient leaders (Deloitte, April 2020) outlines four potential scenarios for how the COVID-19 pandemic could affect the economy and society over the next 3-5 years. As summarized by Axios:
- The Passing Storm: After a slow start, the pandemic is contained through an increasingly effective health care system and political response. Blau: "It feels unlikely at this point, but the surprise scenario is the one people are always least prepared for. It would be a storm that leaves us marked, but it wouldn't change everything."
- Good Company: Governments struggle to control the pandemic. Large companies step up in their stead, accelerating the trend toward a more empathetic stakeholder capitalism. Blau: "Companies need to imagine a world where customers are going to make very different demands on them, one where their relationship to governments will be fundamentally reshaped by this experience."
- Sunrise in the East: Western countries like the U.S. struggle to manage the pandemic compared to China and other East Asian nations. As a result, Beijing seizes geopolitical primacy. Blau: "This draws on a trend that was already in place before the pandemic: the continued rise of China. This unprecedented situation could take that trend and accelerate it.
- Lone Wolves: The pandemic lasts longer than anyone expects, and in response, governments turn isolationist and tech-enabled surveillance becomes more common. Blau: "This is the scenario that no one wants, but sometimes, that's the outcome that happens. It's a world in which it seems we can't eradicate the disease, and social distancing becomes a way of life.
"Demonstrating corporate purpose in the time of coronavirus" (Bill Schaninger, Bruce Simpson, Han Zhang, and Chris Zhu, March 2020). "As boardrooms become war rooms, a handful of principles can help guide executives in shaping a critical course of action and building a powerful sense of identity and purpose that will long outlast the immediate crisis."
Collaboration
COVID-19 Collaboration
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A group of 45 members from The Consumer Goods Forum announced plans to accelerate support for vulnerable communities by working together to alleviate the health and economic burdens stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The group aims to help improve access to healthier foods and personal care products, donate food and personal care products to food banks and community programs, and work with partners that provide essential support locally. (Jan 2021)
At the request of the World Health Organization, Wellcome Trust and WEF's partners, the COVID Action Platform was created to enable leaders from the public and private sectors, and civil society worldwide, to leverage and form exceptional, cross-cutting communities of action. (Feb 2020)
Mastercard has partnered with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and nonprofit organization Wellcome to provide $125 million in seed funding to “speed-up the response to the COVID-19 epidemic by identifying, assessing, developing, and scaling-up treatments.” (Mar 2020)
Apple will partner with Google to develop technology that enables mobile devices to trade information over Bluetooth connections to alert people when they have been in close proximity with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. The technology will require users to opt into the system and will not track the location or identity of users, according to Reuters. (April 2020)
Biotechnology company Gilead will donate 1.5 million individual doses of an investigational drug to help treat COVID-19 patients. (April 2020)
Hilton partnered with American Express to donate up to 1 million hotel room nights across the United States to frontline medical professionals through the end of May 2020. (April 2020)