The global economic crisis has forced governments to come out with economic stimulus packages; environment activists have seen in this an opportunity to re-orient economic development and move to an ecologically sustainable growth track. The promotion of clean energy and investments in environment-friendly ventures could open up fresh avenues of employment, to make up for the retrenchments in older, mostly polluting, industries. And so it is that many countries have included eco-compatible spending in their stimulus strategies. Admittedly, the proportion of such investments vis-à-vis the total spending proposed has been meagre in most countries, barring exceptions like (surprise!) China. Another Asian country, South Korea, leads the world in moving towards environmentally enduring development by earmarking as much as 81 per cent of its $30.7 billion economic stimulus package for eco-friendly projects. China has set apart 34 per cent of its mammoth 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) package for green development. Even the US, the world’s largest polluter which under President Bush had refused to participate in the Kyoto protocol that required mandatory emission cuts by the developed countries, has chosen to include environment goals in its recovery effort, though it has allocated only about 12 per cent of fresh spending for this purpose. The environment advocacy group, Greenpeace, believes that such spending should help cut the US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 1 per cent.
On the downside, there are some environmentally-conscious developed nations which have either not given due importance to clean-tech or have chosen to backslide on environmental commitments, in misplaced fear of its adverse effect on the chances of early economic recovery. Notable among these countries are Japan and Italy, which have allocated only 2.6 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively, for green elements.
Where India is concerned, the various fiscal and other measures taken in recent months to pep up economic growth have, per se, little environmental content though the country is spending over 2 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) annually on addressing climate change issues. What is worrisome is that its clean-tech market, once deemed the third largest after the US and Europe, is estimated to have witnessed a 40 per cent drop in venture capital investments since the last quarter of 2008. Besides, the initiative on doping vehicular fuel with ethanol has remained a non-starter. It would be a fair assessment that the country has missed the opportunity to provide an impetus to green development, through fresh stimulants.
It is important to recognise that, at a time when economic growth in most countries is in jeopardy, climate change solutions are not growth retardants. On the contrary, these lead to labour-intensive (read inclusive) economic development and can, in that respect, act as a good stimulant for the economy. A recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has estimated that at least 2.3 million jobs are currently available globally in the renewable energy sector; that number may swell to over 20 million by 2030. If such opportunities are not captured to achieve the twin goals of economic development and environment preservation, climate change will irreparably impair the planet’s life support systems. Water flows in about a third of the world’s major rivers have already dwindled and freakish weather events can further mar the prospects of socially-desirable economic growth. It is, therefore, time to get into action.