New Delhi: A recent Harvard University Study report has established a correlation between long-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality, which can have grave consequences for a country like India with 21 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world. The study reports that people living in polluted cities are more vulnerable to COVID-19 because of compromised respiratory and cardiac systems which is of extreme concern given India’s grave air quality crisis.
Read:| https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/covid-pm/files/pm_and_covid_mortality_med.pdf )
But amid the pandemic gloom there is hope for planet earth to preserve and nature to heal itself says Erik Solheim, former Executive Director of the UN Environment Program. In conversation with Senior Journalist Smita Sharma, the former UN Under Secretary General said that Earth is now greener than it was before the Corona Virus outbreak. He cited solar and wind energy as cheaper options that electrical companies are switching from coal to as a reason and praised India for making the shift increasingly.
"We have a great future. India has shown that it can take much better care of tigers and wildlife. India has the lowest price of solar energy in the world. India is the first country to have an all solar rail station in Assam, all solar airport in Kerala, a metro in New Delhi will go solar in the future based on solar power from Madhya Pradesh. So there are so many positive things. We can focus on joint humanity where we solve all these problems together," said Solheim speaking from Oslo in Norway.
Asked about the debate surrounding wildlife and wet markets in China since the outbreak of the epidemic, Solheim said that they remain an area of worry and Beijing must regulate or control them. "China needs to regulate and control the so called wet markets lot more than they do. They need to stop all illegal trade of wildlife. These decisions have been made at the highest political level and these need to be implemented. Wet markets are not just in China, but ,any other parts of the world. But in China they are very popular and big which may be a centre for infections," said Solheim.
"Right before the crisis China made two important decisions which have global ramifications. One was to stop all import of ivory which has a huge impact in making life better for elephants in Africa. Because there was less market for ivory. And to stop import of waste from Europe and United States. They said we do not want out to be the waste bin of the world and process all this waste. Please take care of it yourself. After China did it India made the same decision so did Vietnam and other countries in Asia which will have a huge positive global impact when US, Australia,Europe will have to take care of its own waste," he further added on the issue of Chinese controversial treatment of wildlife.
However he added that the US-China blame game about origin of the virus will only deflect focus from finding collective solutions to this global public health challenge. "We need China and US to work together closely with Europe and India and everyone else to find solutions to these. I buy into what Bill Gates has said that this mud slinging is distracting us from finding common solutions. We need to get out of it. The Spanish Flu which is the most deadly flu in all of human history in all likelihood started from Kansas in US. No one has claimed that US was to be blamed for that. So let us move out of this mud slinging and find common solutions," he stressed.
Solheim said that India and China will have key roles to play in Asia and the world going forward and Prime Minister Modi and President Xi face critical questions. Asked about what kind of stimulus and which sectors should be a focus for India to meet environmental goals in the COVID-19 era, Solheim replied that New Delhi should look at South Korea to draw inspiration for a green recovery that stabilises the economy. "I would recommend India to look to one of the most successful models after the 2008 financial crisis which is relatively small but significant Asian neighbour South Korea. South Korea was the most successful nation coming out of the crisis in 2008. It emerged faster than any other industrial nations. They had the greenest recovery of all nations. 80 percent of the recovery of South Korea was made in green sectors and it helped creating jobs," he said.
The former Norwegian environment minister also underlined that going forward medical waste recycling will be an important challenge towards a healthier planet. "We need to prioritise plastic recycling and also recycling all sorts of medical equipment after the crisis. Main vehicle here is producer responsibility. Those companies that bring plastic and other equipment into the market must also be responsible for financing recycling of the plastic and other medical items," he said.
The former UN diplomat underlined external conflicts like US-China mud slinging and internal conflicts such as communal violence in India as key concerns to find solutions to the Corona Crisis.
"We have a huge chance getting out of this Corona Virus crisis to get the world in a better place- less poverty , taking better care of the environment. There are two counter forces. One is if US and China and all the big powers spend their time blaming each other in conflict, they will make solutions very difficult. And internal conflicts in nations will also make solutions more difficult. In India if it is very important that Hindus don’t blame Muslims and Muslims don’t blame Hindus for problems but try to find an all Indian solution which can benefit Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and all groups. Reducing conflicts is key to solutions," said Solheim.
