Renzo Guinto, a 2020 honouree and founder of ‘think-and-do tank’ PH Labs, who has proposed an overhaul of the Philippine health system in response to the pandemic, says an increase in inequality is inevitable. “There is no doubt that Covid-19 will exacerbate existing inequalities, whether along socioeconomic, gender, racial and ethnic or other lines. Those who are worse off have less assets than others to be able to cope with Covid-19 and its myriad side effects. The poor are much faster to lose their jobs and their savings become easily depleted.”

A key facet of a successful recovery, he adds, will be ensuring that economically or otherwise excluded people are included, particularly as technology is set to play such a pivotal role. “The main challenge will be unequal access to digital innovations—the poor who have limited access to smartphones and wireless connectivity will be left behind.”

According to 2020 honouree Jasmine Puteri, formerly a senior campaigner at Greenpeace and now an advisor to Rainforest Foundation Norway, that challenge will also be reflected in healthcare, starting with ridding the world of the disease. “Healthcare access is dominated by rich, privileged people, reflected in how swab tests are more accessible for them,” she says. “I believe the same issue will happen with the [Covid-19] vaccine, once it is found.”

See also: Malaysia’s Youngest Hospital CEO On Fighting Coronavirus On The Front Lines

There has, however, been a pandemic-influenced uptick in interest in helping underprivileged members of society, says Shapiro, who’s also a member of the Tribe, a panel of industry experts who nominate and help vet candidates for the Gen.T List. “For the philanthropic and social sector, it’s been good and bad. The good is that we’re seeing an extraordinary outpouring of concern and help at all levels of society. The bad is the economic turbulence caused by this. “People have become more aware of the hazards of income inequality. This is a turning point, a fork in the road. Are we going to double down on this thing of just taking care of ourselves or are we going to realise that we’re all connected?”

Similarly, Guinto likens the disease to “a mirror and magnifying glass” that has exposed the fragilities of our world. “I think that the change that we need—that Covid-19 reiterates to us—is to redesign our society and our economy around the value of care. How can we rebuild a new economy that cares not for profit, but for people and planet?

“One silver lining of Covid-19 is that people are morehealth-conscious now than ever before. Never have we seen a surge of concern for human health with this rapid pace and at a planetary scale.”

Other honourees have also been doing their bit to improve public health and well-being, and help on the road towards post-pandemic recovery. Sharlini Eriza Putri of Indonesia’s Nusantics, for example, has retooled her company to make Covid-19 testing kits, Mark Mak of Hong Kong’s Roborn Technology has developed a body temperature checking robot and Lim Wai Mun of Singapore’s Doctor Anywhere has established a Covid-19 mobile advisory clinic and city-wide temperature checkpoints. Rajan Uttamchandani of the Philippines’ Esquire Financing, meanwhile, has been lending to small businesses during the pandemic and will work with the Philippine government to help get them back on their feet after it, while Peter Shearer Setiawan of Indonesia’s Wahyoo and Kimberly Yao of the Philippines’ CloudEats have been using their companies’ resources to make sure first responders and people who have lost their jobs are able to eat properly.

See also: This Is How Founders Are Preparing Their Businesses For A Post-Covid World

Perhaps the greatest of the changes we need to make, of course, is in our attitude to our environment. The enormous ructions caused by Covid-19, in fact, could be viewed as a sort of dress rehearsal for the potential effects of climate change.

“This is Earth crying out to humanity that we’ve tortured and toxified it for too long,” says Ma. “This is a good moment for us to detach and reassess.” “This pandemic and prior pandemics are linked to environmental destruction,” says Puteri. “Diseases that should be kept in the forest are being transmitted to people. When the permafrost reveals itself due to global warming, then old diseases will reappear.”

The pandemic has also highlighted the importance of food security, she says. “Independent, sovereign food provision will be a long-term key to surviving this and upcoming pandemics. This event has taught us that we cannot depend on global trade solely.”

Potentially most positively of all, the need for global co-operation highlighted by the pandemic might bode well when it comes to fighting climate change. As Souidi puts it: “The fast response to the pandemic shows that it is possible for governments to be united to respond to climate change.

“Covid-19 has connected people from all over the world regardless of their race and cultural background. The pandemic has put us in the same situation—we tend to care more about others’ well-being.”

Read how Gen.T honourees are contributing to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.