Climate Change Tracker: A greener future after covid-19?
Last week, we looked at how a high carbon economic recovery can derail the fight against climate change. And yet, for India and other countries, the economic crisis brought about by covid-19 might present a unique opportunity to reinvent the wheel.
One of the key areas for a rethink would be the dependence on fossil fuels, in part to protect citizens from the health risks of environmental pollution. Covid-19 has been known to exacerbate existing respiratory and other health conditions. In fact, one study has said the covid-19 death toll in China could have been higher had there been normal levels of air pollution in February (this was a time when China’s economic activity had been put on hold).
According to a new report from the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s (IISD’s) Global Subsidies Initiative and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (Ceew), Mapping India’s Energy Subsidies 2020, 56% of India’s energy comes from coal, while another 36% comes from oil and gas.
