As covid-19 continues taking its toll on human populations, there have been efforts by governments to return to a normal state.

But is this wise? Should this be done?

We've seen media reports of how the environment has recovered due to the lack of human activity. Venice has crystal clear waters because there are no tourist boats churning up the water. India and China has clear skies, which contributed to better health for it's citizens. Thailand has seen endangered turtles lay a record number of eggs because there were no tourists on the beaches.

What this proves is that when we reduce our activity, nature has a chance to recover. And that benefits everyone.

But governments are trying hard to return to their own levels of economic activity. The problem is, a sharp economic downturn has already begun. We must all act, and re-look how we can do better, build forward, and revamp our lives in all its aspects from industries, working conditions, social interactions, etc.

Wouldn't it be better to build forward instead of returning to 'status quo' ? Here are some suggestions:

Converting office buildings to vertical farms.

Office rents are plummeting because companies are discovering that people can work effectively from home. Twitter, Square and Facebook are some great examples.

Policy planners can take advantage of this by re purposing office buildings to vertical farms. More food for everyone, reduced cost of food to table, fresher produce, everyone wins.

Converting/Closing more roads to vehicles and transitioning to a car-lite model.

Working from home means reduced need for transportation. Which affects car and plane transport. That's fantastic because it reduces pollution. We are seeing city planners closing roads to vehicles in some major cities. That is encouraging. But frankly, we need to see more of these changes. Most governments are instead trying to revive their air transport networks. Air travel is environmentally damaging. Sadly, money matters more to them than the destruction of our own home ( news flash: our home is Earth ).

Re purposing jobs to a greener economy

Record un-employment numbers reported all over the work. US, for example, has about 1 in four workers filing for unemployment since mid-March.

We need new industries and new jobs created. And solar farms, vertical farms, aquaponic farms aren't going to run themselves. Sadly, some countries are using the Covid crisis as an excuse to weaken their environmental protection and protections. Environmental enforcer is a job, isn't it? There can be all kinds of new jobs and industries, if governments only embrace the new changes instead of trying to go back to their old polluting ways.

Spending economic stimulus plans wisely

Speaking of governments. We have seen news about how governments are literally printing money to save their economies. Rather than using these funds to revive their economies, they should make investments in more resilient, equitable and environmentally friendly systems. Better greener infrastructures. Stakeholder driven companies. The list goes on and on.

Covid19 is a huge disruption to the world. But we can, and we should build forward in order to survive what comes next ( and in case you don't know what that is, let me give you a hint: Climate Disasters). Returning to the 'status quo' just because governments want to revive their precious economies isnt the right way. Why can't they build a better, greener, economy?

Covid19 is a huge disruption. But this also represents an opportunity, if only we have the will to take it, to reflect, rebuild our world, to save ourselves for the future.

Thank you for your time.