# CSB’s Kevin Eckerle Discusses the Future of Sustainability Following COVID-19

Center for Sustainable Business

March 25, 2020 ![covid 19](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/covid%2B19%2Bcdc.jpg?itok=zq-RQfJI) Given the business challenges presented by the outbreak of COVID-19, many industries face the prospects of mass bankruptcies and unemployment. Following the crisis, experts worry that sustainability will hit a pause as companies plan for the short-term to recover from their losses. In a new feature for Women’s Wear Daily, CSB’s Kevin Eckerle explains how as climate change worsens, sustainability must remain a priority because no industry will be immune to future outbreaks, shortages, and inequalities.

Excerpt: “Speaking about the connection between climate change and near-term threats like an infectious disease, Kevin Eckerle, the director of corporate research and engagement at NYU’s Stern Center for Sustainable Business’s [Return on Sustainability Investment ](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/about/departments-centers-initiatives/centers-of-research/center-sustainable-business/research/csb-monetization-methodology)Framework (ROSI), told WWD: ‘Planning for one, in isolation of the others, doesn’t prepare you to deal with the additive and multiplicative impacts of these things co-occurring – and they are co-occurring. The biggest challenge will be making new investments and continuing prior investments in sustainability if the negative economic impacts of COVID-19 continue to grow and reach the worst-case scenario.’”

To read the full piece, click [here](https://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/pandemic-fashion-industry-sustainability-1203545783/).