When coronavirus entered British news 11 months ago, in December 2019, no-one would have guessed the restrictions it would impose on modern society. But has any positive outcome resulted from these challenging times?

With many workers forced to undertake long office hours from the restrictive space of their homes, the public’s use of transport has consequently fallen. Transport for London reported that bus and tube usage fell by 40% from pre-lockdown. However, this declining rate of vehicle usage, has done wonders for the planet.

The International Energy Agency announced that energy related carbon dioxide emissions are due to fall to 33.4 gigatonnes in 2020, which is a 7% decrease from 2019. This drop in London’s carbon emissions has already been noticeable for Londoners, especially during the earlier stages of Lockdown, in March. The consensus from Wimbledon’s public was that the fresh air was an enjoyable change, with one saying that "the clean air was great for [her] running".

This new ‘clean air’ should also satisfy the public, with it helping us towards reaching a net zero carbon emissions by 2050. David Attenborough often emphasises the need to reach the ‘net zero goal’ in order to stop the trajectory of global temperatures increasing by 3.4 degrees at the end of the century. NASA says that with even a 2 degrees celsius increase it would result in more than 70% of coastlines rising by 0.2 meters. If the 'carbon problem' was left undelt with, the rising sea levels would eventually destroy sea-front infrastructure, leaving many people homeless.

Lockdown has resulted in much needed action towards improving London’s carbon foot print. But it is only a start, as we are still expected to release 33.4 billion tones of carbon this year, so how can you improve your carbon footprint?