At some point, Covid-related restrictions will be eased and the UK and global economies will begin their tentative recoveries. Scientists and environmentalists are already warning that we cannot return to business as usual, and that any economic renewal must be environmentally sustainable. Unfettered growth at any cost is not an option – all countries need to strive for net-zero carbon emissions if we are to avoid a global environmental catastrophe.

Before the current Covid-19 crisis, the environmental crisis looked to be finally gaining the media, public and political attention it warrants. The emergency alarm for this crisis had been sounded back in the 1970s yet it had been met in the 50 years that followed with a combination of mass indifference, positive denial or a sense of helplessness. Some, with particular vested interests, combined together to conduct a campaign of concealment and indeed to lobby for the perpetuation of the very causes of the crisis. They still do.