On September 15, 2020, three representatives from the University of Amsterdam’s Governance and Inclusive Development (GID) team (Prof. Dr. Joyeeta Gupta, Dr. Joeri Scholtens, and Arthur Rempel) partnered with three representatives from the Vrij Universiteit Amsterdam (Prof. Philipp Pattberg, Dr. Jampel Dell’Angelo and Dr. Johanna Koeheler) an in innovative session at the Earth Systems Governance 2020 Virtual Forum. They addressed the following through a brief 5-minute talk: 

Each speaker approached the question from their own experience and expertise, which gave rise to a lively and versatile discussion among some 60 total participants in the session. Prof. Gupta made the point that global recommendations against the spread of COVID-19 (like social distancing, regular hand washing and working from home) are only suitable for middle-high class Western societies and therefore discriminate against communities and households without access to running water or who must continue working to survive. Dr. Dell’Angelo reflected on editing the World Development Special Issue: Pandemics, COVID19, and Sustainability and Development, through which he rose the epistemological question on how ‘quality checking’ from an academic perspective could (or should) be rethought in light of the unknowns that COVID-19 has produced.

Also challenging the role of scientists, Dr. Scholtens discussed his experience co-authoring the Planning for Post-Corona Manifesto, a joint initiative by Dutch academics who propose a framework that radically transforms developmental and political paradigms in a post-COVID society. Mr. Rempel also spoke of a prospective post-COVID world, but from the perspective of fossil fuel governance and the climate emergency, through which he stressed that the economic recession has potentially alleviated the financial burden of phasing out fossil fuels by billions – if not trillions – of dollars, but a “green recovery” (should there be one) must not ignore the short- and long-term needs of poor and vulnerable households who currently and existentially depend on fossil resources.

Finally, Dr. Koeheler discussed her impressive field research in Kenya during the pandemic in which she interviewed hundreds of households on their perspectives on the toll that COVID-19 is taking on their livelihoods. All in all, one message was clear: COVID-19 has sparked endless opportunities for empirical and theoretical research, and we as scientists must continue carrying the momentum to provide science and evidence-based agendas to relevant actors in addressing new challenges that arise in a post-COVID world.