Covid threat just one of many

As Thai authorities battle to halt a tide of infections currently threatening to dislodge a halo worn so proudly by many who thought Covid-19 had been beaten on home soil, a UN report released last week comes as a timely reminder that epidemics come in all shapes and sizes and the present Covid crisis can’t be allowed to distract from pro-environmental policy-making.

The report, Sand and Dust Storms Risk Assessment in Asia and the Pacific, was commissioned by the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) in a side event to the seventh session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction.

Air pollution is certainly a subject familiar to anyone who has spent a prolonged period living in Thailand. Largely caused by a seasonal collision of traffic, heavy…