The coronavirus pandemic is causing untold tragedy. But in some places, efforts to battle and recover from the virus are offering a chance to bootstrap climate action, rethink unsustainable ways of doing things and cut inequality.

In drought-hit Afghanistan, more than 40,000 people - many of whom lost their jobs to COVID-19 - have been hired by the government to dig dams and water trenches and plant trees to try to hold onto more water, correspondent Shadi Khan Saif found. Officials say using spare labour now to shore up the country's environment could well mean less suffering later.

In Hawaii - and on other islands from the Philippines to the Danish Faroes - a coronavirus-related crash in tourism, and subsequent clear and rapid improvements in water quality, coral reefs and fish, are leading islands to rethink the value of huge volumes of visitors.

"If we can move away from the mass, sort of industrial way tourism has been done and get into a more community and connected type of tourism, I think that's where Hawaii can really shine," argues Kalani Kaanaana of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

In Bangkok, a move to turn an old elevated rail line into more public green space has paid off during the pandemic as residents rush to parks for exercise. Later the space will help cool the crowded city as climate change brings more stifling heat, writes correspondent Rina Chandran.

In Indonesia, meanwhile, a "social protection" effort that gave poor rural people cash to boost their incomes, prior to the COVID-19 crisis, unexpectedly cut deforestation by 30% - a lesson for future efforts to stem the loss of the world's forests, researchers say.

That's not to suggest the path to a greener post-COVID-19 future is a clear one.

A survey of European city dwellers - in places such as Madrid, London and Berlin - found that nearly two-thirds want more bicycle lanes installed in their cities - but only a fifth were ready to hop on a bike themselves, even though they'd seen the benefits of cleaner air during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Better infrastructure, from wider pavements to segregated cycle paths, could make people feel safer and more likely to jump on their bikes or walk to work, says Lucy Mahoney, who manages walking and cycling for the C40 city network.

In other encouraging news this week, it turns out low-lying small islands, from the Pacific to the Caribbean, which are hugely threatened by sea level rise, may not disappear after all. Researchers found that tides move sediment to essentially build the islands higher - even though water supply and food production problems could still make the islands hard to live on.

And in formerly war-torn northern Uganda, an effort to collect huge volumes of waste plastic and melt it into plastic building materials has quickly shifted gears to begin turning out low-cost plastic face shields for the region's hard-hit public hospitals as they battle the coronavirus, workers told correspondent John Okot.

Around the world, too much coronavirus-related economic stimulus money is still going to old, dirty industries - from fossil fuels to airlines - often without any demands it be used to make the industries greener, analysts say. But the green shoots of climate-smart shifts are also there - and now is the time for them to spread.

Awnings to aircon: Heat threat drives city innovation in pandemic year
As cities battle COVID-19, racial inequalities and rising heat risks, they are experimenting with a range of clever solutions

Indigenous leaders fear Amazon soy port could be conduit for COVID-19
A grain export terminal that draws long lines of truckers each day is raising risks, say Amazon communities who oppose its expansion

Cash-short Caribbean confronts hurricane fears after COVID blow
"You have three monsters coming to you at the same time - the pandemic, climate disasters and an economic recession," warns Commonwealth secretary-general

India's virus lockdown fuels timber-smuggling in Kashmir forests
In the mountainous region, trees have been cut down as tourism ground to a halt and guards were unable to patrol under tight restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19

'Party' ahead for illegal loggers? Mexico's national parks in doubt with cuts
"Offices here in the region are being evicted - there's no money to pay the rent," says the director of one World Heritage site