Levels of health-harming air pollutants in China have exceeded concentrations at the same time last year in the past 30 days, for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. This includes PM2.5, NO2, SO2 and ozone.

In 2019 and the early months of 2020, global trade faced two major albeit very different shocks, namely the United States-China trade war and the cascading response of the countries around the world to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary ofEarth Day, this report investigates the impact COVID-19 lockdowns have had on global particulate pollution levels.As lockdowns were implemented in response to the deadly coronavirus pandemic, the dramatic changes brought about by these restrictions have been described as the ‘largest scale experiment ever’

With COVID-19 cases, related human mortality and socio-economic disruption rising rapidly around the globe there are overwhelming reasons to concentrate on immediate emergency responses, the here and the now.

The disruption of the media industry, with the rise of social media, the digitization of content and the increase in mobile consumption has changed traditional funding models beyond recognition. The role of media historically has been central to the making of society and the construction of identity.

The COVID-19 virus that triggered a supply shock in China has now caused a global shock. Developing economies in East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), recovering from a trade war and struggling with a viral disease, now face the prospect of a global financial shock and recession.