As the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues, India is focusing on immediate needs: boosting capacity in hospitals, protective gear at hospitals, stabilize agricultural and food supply disruptions or addressing hunger and provide economic stimulus plans.

Given that the pandemic led to a huge down fall in economic activity; we are experiencing visible decline in pollution levels and carbon dioxide emissions, which has caused many to claim, “Nature is healing”. But, there is no reason to celebrate a coronavirus driven dip in emissions that will likely be achieved on the back of wide spread sufferings and economic hardship. As economic activity picks up again, emissions will rebound. Hence, there is need for a well-conceived long terms strategy towards building climatic resilience and capacity to tackle pandemic shocks coherently.

While the country’s attention is rightly focused on the more urgent public health and relief measures, the government also started envisioning for an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” to recover from Covid -19 influenced economic crises. What is important, however that  as the Government  do so, the measures they put in place to help the economy recover from this extraordinary shock should be designed with climate challenge and environmental sustainably in mind. The legacy of past efforts by Indian government for socio economic development of the country can be further leveraged to build country’s capacity for tackling climate or pandemic shocks.

There are a few areas where government can act upon, some of the most critical ones being as follows’

Integration of “Impact of climate change on Health” in a Mission mode under NAPCC

Climate change adversely influences health in a number of ways; it threatens food and water security, worsens air pollution, causes heat-related adverse effects on health and economic well-being, and intensifies infectious & vector borne diseases like dengue , malaria etc. For health systems already weakened by climate-related health impacts, flattening the curve of infections to avoid overwhelming the healthcare system becomes much more challenging.

In 2017  , Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had proposed a “National Action Plan on Climate Change and Human Health", a policy aimed at protecting people against climate sensitive illnesses such as cardio-respiratory diseases, cancers and allergies. This action plan aimed at reducing climate sensitive illnesses through integration with other missions under National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). Even, several States’ Action Plan on climate change had considered expenditure on health care system as one of climate adaptation strategy. These already envisioned strategies/ plans require further review and need to be integrated during the implementation of NAPCC.

Sustainable and affordable housing for labourers and low income work force

During Covid -19 imposed lockdown, cities have seen the exodus of migrant workers leaving for their rural homes mainly in poorer states. Providing sustainable and affordable housing has already been the endeavor of the Government policy e.g. PM Awas Yojana and Urban Housing for All and SMART cities programme.  Major thrust under these schemes has  been on providing sustainable and  affordable housing for poor population and equipping them with technologies which  less stress environment  such as housing equipped with clean energy sources, electric busses, recycled water, and low cost green building structures.. Despite a variety of attributes, these schemes could not resolve the issues of housing poor workers and laborers for a number of reasons such as low interest by investors etc.

In fact some of the industries clusters could have made provision of building residential complexes and colonies for their low income work force. Migrant labor housing should be located near public transit system. There is a need to take cognizance of the land use pattern being laid out in the master plan of big cities so that cities’ infrastructure can meet the socio economic and housing  requirement  of urban poor/ labour at the time of any shocks whether a pandemic or a climatic disaster.

Some of the existing Policy provisions — including the 2007’s “National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy” that emphasized on adoption of a multi-pronged approach to increase the rental housing for urban poor need a review by Government.[1]

Adding “Green jobs” and Rebooting energy mix by increasing share of Renewable Energy

Energy expenditures for the large energy-consuming countries have been significantly reduced due to the collapse in oil prices. For example, every $4 decrease in commodity prices leads to about $5 billion in import bill savings for India, which is the world’s third-largest energy consumer.[2]India can now use these savings to be reinvested in a more diversified renewable energy system and Low carbon transport system such as electric mobility.

Decentralized Renewable Energy Technologies – Solar Roof Top system or energy storage technologies can strengthen the health care operations/ hospitals economically by cutting their power utility service bills. There is an opportunity to reboot the system in a way to avoid returning to the past, achieving energy security and invest in an economic recovery that accelerates the clean energy transition – including renewable energy, cutting emissions from fossil fuels, introducing electric vehicles with charging infrastructure and building human capital for the future energy and transport system by profiling them for green jobs. Investment on building green jobs should be inherent in economic recovery plan which should essentially include a review on types of jobs to be created and who benefits from them, and the match between the skills needed and those available in the local workforce.

Sustainable way of regulated use of plastic material introduced under “Swatch Bharat Mission “should be continued

Occurrence of the pandemic has increased dependence on plastic based health care equipments and protection kits as these are the need of the hour. Proper disposal of bio-medical waste is already a norm being enforced by the government. Authorities have taken concrete initiatives in curbing plastic manufacturing and engorged recycling material thorough various regulations. Increased dependence on plastic products during pandemic should not set a new trend of going the unsustainable way of unregulated use of plastic.  New material research with less toxicity level to environment should be promoted under the government policies. Government programs on plastic reduction- “Plastic Mukt Bharat”, based on a circular economy with “extended polluters responsibility” principle and new sustainable materials could lose ground if they aren’t tied to the core purpose of a business on verge of economic recovery. The recycling and waste industries are already under stress, though in some cases supply bottlenecks could push companies to explore new materials. Recent economic stimulus given to MSME industries must adhere to “zero discharge” principle and follow environmental sustainable practices.

Build state of the art SMART grid systems

The coronavirus has hastened a huge dependence in teleworking and home schooling as millions of students are now suddenly confined to their homes. This highlights our dependence not only on the internet but also on an affordable and reliable electricity supply. Electricity networks are helping us get through the current crisis, but they are not ready for swift changes in user categories from industrial to residential consumption and to a more electrified requirement in future in which renewable energy will account for a rising share of power generation.  In this regard, India’s National Mission for SMART GRID launched in 2017 should be encouraged further to caters the requirement of reliable electricity supply in the country at time of crisis. India‘s key role as secretariat of “International Solar Alliance” should accelerate innovations in technology for SMART Grid operations. Investment to strengthen our grids and to integrate smart digital technologies in their operation should be a priority for government action.

To conclude, any economic stimulus plan to address Covid-19 crisis should also focus on   the opportunities for accelerating the all- important shift towards sustainable environment and climate mitigation. In India, while use of limited public finances needs to be tailored according to the local requirements and emerging situation, but concerns of global crises of climate change should not be overlooked in its strategy.

[1] https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/governance/covid-19-lockdown-shows-why-india-needs-social-rental-housing-70555

[2] https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/PnHcP040QNZYkLT5BWK5rL/The-impact-of-rising-oil-prices-on-Indian-economy.html

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author, and don’t necessarily reflect the position of CBGA. You can reach Jyotsna Goel at jyotsna@cbgaindia.org.