Why the Green Recovery Route is the Best Solution to Handle COVID-19 like Crisis
The old adage “Prevention is better than cure” is getting very much traction now-a-days because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 globally. But, you can only prevent a disease when you are prepared for it. The actions taken by various nations to combat this pandemic do not reflect that they were ready to face such an emergency. A holistic approach is needed for any such emergency response and the nations need to be ready socially, economically and environmentally .
As per GPMB report, Sept 2019, “ the world is at acute risk for devastating regional or global disease epidemics or pandemics that not only cause loss of life but upend economies and create social chaos”. This warning got neglected by the nations and the result is before us now .
The entire world is getting affected now either directly because of the disease or indirectly from the point of view of world business.
All the nations have either ramped up medical preparedness effort on emergency basis or brought the whole country under lock down inviting economic recession. Besides there has been death of a huge number of human population because of this disease even in the rich developed countries like USA , France , Italy, UK,etc.Again, job loss happened in millions as the business got affected nationally and internationally.
The extent of damage can be equated with any big disaster . And , we should be ready with the adequate best possible preparations as such epidemic events may strike again and again. The way should be like improvement of a community’s physical, social, environmental and economic conditions as a holistic approach like Build Back Better (BBB) principle. And , the proven path is through Green Recovery Route.
As the saying goes “ the proof of the pudding is in the eating “, this Green Recovery route experiment was tested in South Korea during the global financial crisis in 2008. The country dedicated 80% of its fiscal stimulus plan to green growth projects like clean energy technologies and implementation of low carbon growth plan; created huge number of jobs and strengthen the economy and was one of the countries that rebounded the quickest.
The same benefit can be accrued by any nation if climate friendly solutions are considered by the government sponsored stimulus packages which will ultimately help the nation to boost economic growth , reduce emissions, ensure clean air and emerge stronger than before to face any such future pandemics.
Again, the climate change affect the health as per below ways:-
- Rising temperatures increases the risks of disease
- Extreme weather affects our access to clean water
- Unreliable weather pattern undermine the food security
- Climate shocks can damage health infrastructures
Globally, we are heading towards another crisis, called “ Global Warming” and thereby the Climate Change . This has a need of restricting temperature rise within 1.5 0 C target as per the Paris Climate Agreement. Already a number of industries, cities and financial institutions are working towards clean/green pathway. Hope the nations globally will act responsibly and follow Green Recovery strategy to handle both these emergency along with to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) .
References :-
[1] https://apps.who.int/gpmb/assets/annual_report/GPMB_Annual_Report_English.pdf
[2] https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/05/09/Korea-s-Global-Commitment-to-Green-Growth
[3] UNDP reports
