No return to business as usual

Instead of trying to return to business as usual, we should use the opportunity to change our consumption behaviour. Climate change, waste and pollution problems etc. have not suddenly disappeared. If we only aspire to get tourism started (beyond some regions' carrying capacity as before), support employment in sectors which produce commodities and not food (for example salmon farming) and carry on creating dependencies which we cannot control, we show a disrespect to all the lives which were lost and a disrespect for all which bear the consequences of our self-centred consumption-oriented behaviour - and this extends far beyond our borders.
To save lives - not a single one is worth to be sacrificed on the altar of convenience and wealth - we should remain in lockdown until an environmentally and socially sound concept is being worked out, not something which can only 'sustain' economic activities by degrading and exploiting natural resources.
We need appropriate lifecycle assessments for all sectors and if Scotland really wants a leading position in the world in combatting climate change and not join the many governments who pay a lip service... then this is the time to act.

If we do not heed the lessons we should have learned during this pandemic, we may simply find us in a very similar situation again in the future. The threat of an influenza pandemic is still present, it has not gone away. The threat of global warming (aggravated by emissions from many sectors) has not gone away either and already causes problems at national and international levels by causing threats to food supply, water availability, mass displacement of people and political unrest.
Half-cooked and ill-considered attempts to re-open the existing economy and make all the same mistakes again may make matters worse than taking our time now.
I call upon the government to open a consultation across academic disciplines to facilitate consideration of expertise from all relevant fields.
Consideration and careful planning comes before actions!