ABSTRACT
This study utilizes a recently developed framework for the well-being economy to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 in the sparsely populated Westfjords region of northwestern Iceland. A total of 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a broad spectrum of local community members, nearly all undertaken in October 2021. Local impacts to human and social capital were very evident, whilst economic consequences to individuals and business were largely mitigated through national economic packages. The remoteness of the Westfjords and pre-existing challenges, such as exposure to nature disasters, a harsh climate, and limited infrastructure, provided a bedrock of resilience with which to tackle the pandemic. This underpinned the sustainability of the communities, and flexible approaches to work and education constrained some of the worst potential effects of social distancing and isolation. Nevertheless, some socio-demographic groups remained harder hit than others, including the elderly in nursing homes and non-Icelandic speaking foreigners, who were marginalized via isolation and lack of information provision in the early, most severe outbreaks of COVID-19. The study demonstrated the coping mechanisms and solutions that were adopted to sustain subjective and community well-being, whilst reinforcing the importance of utilizing local community strengths in tackling the many challenges induced by a pandemic crisis. © 2022 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 on Agenda 2030 specifically focusing on SDG 13, i.e. climate actions. Habitat loss, the creation of artificial environments, the manipulation and trade of wild animals and more generally the destruction of biodiversity are mainly affecting the dynamic balance of the biosphere, as is confirmed by the first world report on the world’s ecosystems, i.e. the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The changes in the use of land and the destruction of natural habitats, such as tropical forests, may be the main origin of more than half of emergent zoonosis. Given the magnitude of the current health crisis and the potential of pandemic risks, the world needs to pay attention to climate change and the broader sustainability agenda at this time. As the current health crisis is turning worldwide interest on climate change there is an urgent need to assess the response to COVID-19 from the financial and insurance perspective. In doing this our analysis points out the relationship between pandemic risk and sustainable development by considering both negative and positive impacts on the achievement of the SDG 13 targets. The ongoing COVID-19 shows the urgent need to strengthen sustainability by reducing and managing climate and environmental risks that can be supported by radical solutions provided by sustainable finance, as the European Commission emphasized in its consultation on Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy. From the insurance industry view, it is clear that potential actions will be needed to limit the impacts of extreme weather events and related effects on global supply chain. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.