Why China and India shouldn't

let coronavirus justify walking

back climate action

By Helen Regan, CNN Business

Updated 0205 GMT (1005 HKT) May 21, 2020
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(CNN Business)Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, India and China were
positioning themselves as global climate leaders.
While virus lockdowns have provided temporary blue skies from Delhi to Beijing,
and beyond, as China and India prepare to resuscitate their economies experts
warn doing so without environmental regard could wind back their previous good
work on climate.
That could have devastating effects on the health on billions of people. Air
pollution already kills 7 million of us every year, damages our children's health
and development, causes serious breathing and lung problems, and even affects
babies in the womb.
The pandemic isn't fixing climate change

Now climate experts are demanding countries use this recovery period to enact
policies that reduce emissions and invest in renewable energy and climate-
resilient infrastructure. That, they say, will create jobs, be better for the economy
in the long term and, crucially, save lives.
Bailing out fossil fuel companies and funding high-carbon industries, by contrast,
will set back the planet's chances of limiting global temperatures to within levels
needed to stave off the worst of the climate catastrophe.
For Pulitzer Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz, and a group of leading economists, this
is a make or break moment.
"The recovery packages can either kill these two birds with one stone — setting
the global economy on a pathway towards net-zero emissions — or lock us into
a fossil system from which it will be nearly impossible to escape," they
wrote earlier this month in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy.

Building green, climate resilient infrastructure

Before the virus hit, India had clear targets on climate change.
It had committed to having 40% of its power generation supplied by non-fossil
fuels by 2030, and had increased its target for renewable energy capacity to 450
gigawatts by then, too.
Demand for coal — which generates about 75% of India's electricity —
was down, as renewable energy became much cheaper, and on the world stage
India had taken a lead in climate negotiations.
"Before pandemic hit the predictions were that India would surpass its targets,"
said Aparna Roy, associate fellow and co-lead on climate change and energy at
the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy (CNED).
But the coronavirus lockdowns have wreaked huge economic disruption on
India's economy. More than 120 million people lost their jobs in April, mostly
informal laborers and small traders, according to the Centre for Monitoring the
Indian Economy (CMIE).
To ease the economic pain, the Indian government last week unveiled $266
billion economic package aimed at building a "self-reliant India," according to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and will help micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises.
The details of that package are still being rolled out, but government support for
energy efficiency upgrades for businesses and targets for decarbonizing as
conditions on funds could go a long way, experts say.
"Fossil fuel industries, facing extraordinarily low oil prices, are likely to request
future tax breaks or bailouts," the economists write in the Oxford University
study. "While there may be good reasons for such support, such bailouts should
be conditional on these industries developing a measurable plan of action to
transition towards a net-zero emissions future."
Subsidies for fossil fuels in India were already over seven times larger than those
for alternative energy, according to a report from two environmental think tanks
found in April, highlighting an area where India has to do better.
The disruption from the virus could also impact whether India meets its
renewable energy targets.
The country wants to be a leader in solar power and is aiming for 175 gigawatts
of renewable energy by 2022, with the majority of that to come from solar. But
construction on solar projects was halted during lockdown as the majority of the
components needed for these installations come from China, where factories
shut during the pandemic.
India also depends on international finance to help reach its climate goals — a
pot that could dry up as developed nations struggle with their own economic
hardships.
"Most developed countries that are already regressing from their commitments,
this is an opportunity to not commit the further finance that is urgently required
for developing countries to make their transition," Roy said.

Lockdowns lead to air pollution drops in major cities 01:08

India's development depends on green policies
India's long-term coronavirus recovery strategy could also determine how the
country progresses not only with its clean energy transition but the health and
development of its people.
India's ability to provide enough food and energy for its growing population
hinges on building infrastructure that will withstand the impacts from the climate
crisis, having a sustainable agriculture sector, and transitioning to renewable
energy.
"The Covid pandemic has actually highlighted how important three things are:
food security; sustainable, reliable and affordable energy access; and the third is
critical infrastructure," Roy said. "Poverty alleviation will require India to have
energy and food security, at the same time its energy and food security are very
vulnerable to climate impact."