COVID-19 pandemic as a global phenomenon: Perspectives for research in health, energy and technology transitions.

The rapid and devastating spread of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, is transforming the lives of people around the globe. This is not the first time we have seen an infection cause many deaths and change the course of local and regional histories. But because we now live in a world of dense settlements and unprecedented mobility, the potential for COVID-19 to do harm is much greater. People, goods and animals travel further and more frequently than ever before. These conditions challenge humanity to work together to find solutions.

Global Transitions publishes actionable knowledge and forward-thinking perspectives on large-scale transition and change. Wise responses depend on rigorous discourse that must, necessarily, cross disciplinary boundaries, reaching, for example, into the social sciences, the humanities and public health. This makes Global Transitions, with its focus on health, energy and technology, the ideal platform to exchange knowledge and information on the COVID-19 phenomenon.

In this special issue, we feature the latest international, interdisciplinary research into this important topic. Below you will find short introductions from the three Editors-in-Chief responsible for our health, energy and technology coverage.

Health transitions

Back in 1870, the average, global life expectancy at birth was approximately 30 years; by 2020 that average had more than doubled to just over 70 years. Although there are still serious inequalities worldwide, generally, people live longer than their grandparents and enjoy better health.

Much of this gain stems from public works such as potable water and sewage systems, improved housing and nutrition, and vaccination and other healthcare advances. However, the gains we have made over the last 150 years have often been at the expense of the future. The natural resources we have drawn on to expand the world's food supply, build cities, and produce sophisticated devices and pharmaceuticals, are declining rapidly. We are now witnessing the consequences, including climate change; biodiversity loss; land use changes; and environmental loading of toxic chemicals and air pollutants. These changes are not only aggravating existing health risks, they are creating new ones.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that the age of plagues is not over, that microbes continue to surprise and threaten. It has also prompted a re-think of globalisation; what it means and the implications for health and well-being.

In the early stages of the pandemic, we saw high-powered medical therapies take a back seat to simple, old-fashioned public health interventions, such as physical distancing and quarantine. And it is successes in basic biomedical science, such as pathogen genotyping and vaccine development, that will drive the COVID-19 ‘end game’.

Public health researchers have reported the many ways in which different societies have responded to COVID-19. Old themes have re-surfaced: the relationship between plagues and places; the force of destructive social responses such as victim-blaming and denial; the damage caused when there is little trust in, or respect for leaders; and the securitisation of health (border policies, for instance). And there is a growing literature on co-benefits and ‘co-harms’. For example, some are questioning whether the transition to low-carbon systems will be aided or obstructed by COVID-19.

Energy transitions

Energy infrastructures are, by definition, socio-technical systems. They contain significant interlinkages and constraints that must be understood before we can trigger effective change. Human-generated global change has been a feature of recent decades. The efforts of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and the Paris Agreement have resulted in a consensus that we must reduce carbon levels and limit the global temperature mismatch to 1.5–2 °C above the pre-industrial temperature equilibrium. It remains unclear when we will reach the tipping point for climate change and see impacts become non-linear and unpredictable.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in governments implementing lockdowns that have affected their economies and citizens‘ livelihoods. In addition, the lockdowns have prompted a reduction in demand for transport and industrial and commercial energy use. This has led to improved air quality and a reduction in the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the pandemic has enforced behavioural changes that were previously unimaginable. These changes may have direct implications for long-term transport demand, and the operation of mass transit, heating ventilation and air conditioning systems. In addition, there could be impacts on the economy, industry, health systems and sector growth that are not immediately apparent.

The papers in this special issue review the lessons learned from the transitions caused by COVID-19. The paper by Kanitkar uses a macro-economic Input Output model to access the economic impact of the lockdown in India. Edomoh and Ndulue evaluate the effects of partial and complete lockdowns in Lagos, Nigeria, on different consumer classes, and they highlight the need to improve system resilience to respond to shocks or abrupt changes. Ise et al. document the impacts of the extra-long Argentinian lockdown on gas, oil and electricity demand and supply. Tarasi et al. analyse the impact of the pandemic on the transport sector in Chania and Rethymno (two Cretan urban tourist destinations).

The papers in this special issue provide insights regarding impacts of the abrupt transitions caused by the pandemic and highlight lessons for future global transitions.

Technology transitions

Put any of the challenges facing our society today under the microscope and you will soon identify a common factor. Climate change, energy security, transport and resource efficiency, food safety, environmentally-friendly production and human health; the one feature they all share is a dependency on existing and new technologies. In fact, technology has become the cornerstone of economic growth, social development and the advancement of our civilization worldwide. Technology transitions describe the process of technological innovation and how these are incorporated into society and have the potential to change it. This is why it is key to look at these transitions over a longer period of time.

The pandemic has highlighted many potential areas for future technology research. Some of these are linked to our immediate response to the virus; for example, homeschooling during lockdowns required digital technologies such as videoconferencing, virtual boards and tape recordings. Teachers, parents and schoolchildren were largely unprepared, although, interestingly, some regions/nations adapted faster that others. This is also true for many other technologies that have increased in importance since SARS-CoV-2 emerged; e.g., e-health, online shopping, e-payments and e-gaming.

Other potential areas for future technology research sparked by the pandemic are linked to long-term opportunities. For example, ideally, technological opportunities will help us monitor future emerging viruses and better prepare for forthcoming epidemics in a world with varying environments, demographics and sociopolitical structures. Here, the link to related areas like sociology might also be very helpful; for instance, in understanding ethical aspects like barriers to transparency and collection of critical data.

As this is an ongoing pandemic situation, there will be much more room for research, especially in an interdisciplinary setup. In the following, we outline some of these opportunities we see ahead of today:

The role psychosocial responses play in adopting best practices to control pandemics.

The problem of cultural and food preferences: most of the recent epidemics have emerged in the context of consuming wild meat sources. So how to tackle this issue?

Pathways to the future: the probable scenarios for national and global recovery after pandemics.

At least, this pandemic might have brought us the necessary experiences todesign and carry out preparation plans on an international scale to prepare for future situations which will occur again most probably.