FROM TH E E D I TO R Face to face with a crisis T heres an episode of the American TV series The Twilight Zone in which, after a visit by an alien ambassador, humans believe that, on pain of obliteration, they have just 24 hours to eliminate war from the planet. The ultimatum works, and throughout the next day they hold talks, sign treaties and manage to resolve every territorial dispute and religious conict, despite their failure to come anywhere close to this in the years before. A cruel twist sees a bad ending for the humans, but the point is that when people perceive a real threat, they will rally and can achieve the extraordinary. The climate emergency apparently hasn t been enough for countries to bring about meaningful change in habits, with many in danger of falling short of meeting vital decarbonisation targets. But there was a swift reaction to COVID-19, with extensive movement lockdowns enforced quickly to control the spread. Of course, the aim of these measures was to immediately safeguard human life; but there have been benecial side effects, including a signicant decline in global air pollution over Beijing and other previous blackspots, as huge numbers of ights were grounded, schools closed and people worked at home instead of commuting. There will be substantial decreases in the production of transport emissions and other wastes as this situation plays out. The crisis has startled businesses and forced them to look harder and more urgently at ways they could be doing things differently. Its shown that, where there is a collective will, it is possible to implement far-reaching albeit difcult change, and fast. For the moving industry, where international movement of people and goods is its raison dtre, this is likely to bring a peculiar kind of shift. While the core business of relocation will remain the same, the adoption of related tech-based services virtual surveys and automated handling, for example may be hastened to mitigate the impact of pandemic crises in the future; but also because, when it comes to people meeting and working with one another in person, there are now alternative, efcient, greener and safer ways to work. Of course, we dont want to eliminate nonessential human interaction. There are occasions, such as the postponed FIDI Conference, which will now take place next year, when there really is no substitute for meeting our colleagues and building face-to-face relationships. When it comes to the day to day, however, many meetings can be conducted remotely, and commuting swapped for homeworking. During the current crisis, this approach is saving lives. In the long term, though, it will also protect the environment and, with less time and resources spent on travelling, it can benet work-life balance, too. DOMINIC WEAVER Delivering Professional International Moving & Logistics Lets Go Globally An Atlas World Group Subsidiary The Atlas World Group network consists of 450 600 Agents US & Canada Warehouse Locations 140,000 Global Shipments per Year Want to learn more about our services? Contact sales@atlasintl.com or 888-669-6031 for more information. WW W. F I D I. O R G FF296 AprMay20 pp08-09 Ed.indd 9 9 31/03/2020 08:34