The world must seize this opportunity to meet the climate challenge | Andrew Bailey and others

As current and former central bankers, we believe the pandemic offers a unique chance to green the global economy

• Coronavirus - latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

We are currently in the midst of the most severe macroeconomic shock since the second world war. The disruption to our daily lives and subsequent impact on our economies has been enormous. We are seeing first-hand that a collective response is needed to defeat a common enemy, as authorities across the world courageously mobilise all available resources to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

This crisis offers us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild our economy in order to withstand the next shock coming our way: climate breakdown. Unless we act now, the climate crisis will be tomorrow's central scenario and, unlike Covid-19, no one will be able to self-isolate from it.