In a matter of months, the world has changed. Covid-19 has changed the way we live and the pandemic's stay-at-home orders have brought a welcome relief in many places from air pollution and the worsening environment. In Malaysia, we also had a change in government and a new Cabinet, which included the reshuffling of environment-related ministries and portfolios. With a global call to build back better, will Malaysia see carbon and pollutant emissions “bounce back” or will we see changes in the way we do things, as far as the environment is concerned? We discuss this and more with Surin Suksuwan, a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, and Preetha Sankar, an environmental lawyer.