The COVID-19 global challenge and its implications for the environment – what we are learning

https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444/ucloe.000008 During the last months, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the lives of many and had a more or less direct effect on virtually everyone on the planet. This international public health emergency has endless socio-economic ramifications and will have long-lasting consequences [1]. It triggered unprecedented responses from governments around the world, which included implementing strict social distancing and stopping every non-essential productive activity and the related movements of people and goods.