The climate crisis should be at the heart of the global Covid recovery | Maria Fernanda Espinosa

Governments are pouring resources into economic recovery. It's an opportunity for visionary climate policies

• Maria Fernanda Espinosa is a former president of the United Nations general assembly

In the early hours of 12 December, 2015, I stood together with world leaders to welcome the adoption of the Paris agreement on climate change. Years of negotiations and frustrating setbacks were capped by a two-minute round of applause for French foreign minister Laurent Fabius as he banged the gavel and ushered in an ostensibly greener, more sustainable future.

Five years on, the memory of Paris is bittersweet. Progress on what are termed the nationally determined contributions" - the self-identified climate goals of each country - has been patchy at best, and action on all of the commitments remain worryingly low.