Ecology to take back seat to economic recovery after pandemic, says expert

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. Environmental and ecological issues could lose their appeal globally once the coronavirus pandemic is over due to the pressing need to revive economies, head of the Expert Council of the Russian Expert Institute of Social Studies think tank Gleb Kuznetsov said Thursday."[The world will witness — TASS] a demand for unobstructed economic growth. [There will be] fewer musings about ecology and fewer arguments about the price of economic growth. We are already seeing a number of environmental restrictions on plastic and various packaging rolled back in European countries. This will continue happening," Kuznetsov noted. The think tank's leading expert added that support for ecological agenda would shrink among nations as economic crisis exacerbates. According to him, "a demand for <…> a new consumer society" will emerge in the world. Kuznetsov stressed that the desire to spend money on instantaneous amusements can be linked to lack of confidence that "the pandemic will not return tomorrow." The pundit also emphasized that the world would refocus itself from treating rare conditions to fighting mass diseases. According to the latest statistics, over 4,442,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 298,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 1,668,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe. To date, a total of 252,245 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 53,530 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 2,305 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation. Read more