In the weeks after the appointment of the interim Government of National Unity (GNU) in Libya a few months ago, a rash of developments, endorsements, and new-found optimism suggested a nation finally on the move after years of conflict and division.

As vaccination campaigns ramp up, experts and policymakers are beginning to develop a sense of just how far away the world is from an exit out of the COVID-19 crisis, and gaining greater clarity about the post-pandemic recovery period.

More than a billion people in nearly 200 countries marked the 51st Earth Day last week, coinciding with a world leaders’ summit on climate hosted by the White House. The stakes could not be higher, and the threats posed by a rapidly warming planet more evident.

In a sign of changing times, the list of global threats is now topped by climate change, China and other countries, rather than terrorism, the potential resurgence of Daesh or copycat violent extremists, according to US intelligence officials.

It is indeed promising that in less than a month Libya’s new interim Government of National Unity (GNU) claims to have united about 80 percent of critical state institutions from the executive authority itself to the legislature, central bank, energy and various other ministries.