Global warming, COVID-19 and a new world for conducting business

Abstract

A recent YouGov survey,1 commissioned by the Royal Society of Arts during the global COVID-19 pandemic, uncovered the fact that only 9 per cent of Britons wanted to go back to the way things were before the onset of the virus. Most of those surveyed have noticed a number of positive improvements in and around their lives, ranging from the quality of food they eat and prepare, to exercise, to air quality and the apparent presence of more wildlife. In making these observations they are signalling the fact that although there have been many hardships, there have been some deep and important improvements to the quality of their lives that have been worth the inconvenience and that they would like to hang on to long after the virus has passed. This paper is intended to draw together observations of two extremely topical disruptors — global warming and COVID-19 — in an effort to inform a third: the transformation of how we go to work. There is little doubt that an unintended symbiotic relationship now exists between these three game-changers and the YouGov survey respondents have issued a note of hope that the many lessons learned during the pandemic may have opened minds sufficiently to contemplate improvement in other areas.