For more than two years, COVID-19 has taken lives, destroyed livelihoods, disrupted daily routines, and dominated political discussion around the world. As the acute phase of the pandemic comes to an end, we must evaluate what COVID-19 has revealed about the ability of democratic systems to respond to such emergencies.There are several lessons to be learned from a crisis that has caused the death of over six million people and produced the deepest recession since World War II.

Our geological epoch, the Anthropocene, in which mankind is shaping the fate of the planet, is characterised by existential threats. Some are addressed in action plans such as the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Cyclones, earthquakes, economic crises, and epidemics are business risks companies have been facing for decades. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit global supply chains at an unprecedent scale and speed.

22 April marked the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, which was strikingly different from previous years. Countries across the planet are grappling with an unprecedent situation in which a seemingly innocuous virus illness spread into a global pandemic in less than 90 days. It has infected more than 2.4 million people in more than 200 countries, claimed over 170,000 lives, and has brought most economic activity to a standstill.