There’s no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has taken a heavy toll across the globe, and
has also had a huge socio-economic impact, diminishing global growth through 2020 and leaving even major economies dealing with substantial losses.
Believe it or not, however, there are some good things to have emerged during the pandemic, from environmental shifts to increased community spirit. We’ll explore some of these positives further in the article below.
- Decreased Pollution
The global spikes in coronavirus cases have triggered a range of responsive measures, including the introduction of social distancing and national lockdowns.
While the latter has been oppressive in many instances, it has also had the benefit of decreasing carbon emissions across the globe. Overall, they declined by an estimated 8% through 2020, leading to cleaner air in bustling metropolises such as Beijing and Johannesburg.
In China alone, emissions were cut by a quarter, as the world’s biggest carbon footprint reduced dramatically. In South Africa, Covid-19 brought down the region’s daily carbon emissions by 20% last year, with this trend continuing into Q1, 2021.
- Remote Working has Become Increasingly Viable
While flexible working directives exist in countries across the globe, employees were still often compelled to base themselves in the office prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
This has changed in the wake of lockdown measures, which have required office workers to operate primarily from home and communicate using remote tools such as Skype and Microsoft Teams.
Interestingly, several major employers have committed to continued remote working policies even in the wake of coronavirus, including Amazon and Capital One.
Banking giant Nationwide has also said its employers will be allowed to ‘work anywhere’ in the future, with the amount of time spent in the office reduced to as little as one or two days a week.
- Increased Savings and Investment Opportunities
As people have been unable to spend money on entertainment or travel overseas, many have built a small but growing nest egg of savings.
As a result of this, households have had more opportunity to invest capital and create passive or secondary income streams, with entities such as the forex market particularly appealing. At the same time, volatile currency assets such as the South African rand (ZAR) have become increasingly profitable, so there has arguably never been a better time to access the market.
What’s more, you can also access free trading capital through a forex welcome bonus, helping to safeguard your own capital and the money that you’ve managed to save during the pandemic.