02 October 2020
Green Recovery in Post-COVID-19 Southeast Asia?
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted unprecedented economic damages across the globe. Amidst rigorous efforts to manage immediate issues like job losses and business displacements, low-carbon proponents have begun to make calls for a green recovery. In Southeast Asia, an intentional shift towards a green recovery seems unlikely. This is because governments fall back on existing development plans as the basis for economic recovery strategy. As green agenda has been weakly integrated in existing development plans, the progress of climate mitigation in Southeast Asia is likely to remain slow and mixed at best, with a possibility of it getting weakened because of a strong focus on the economy after the pandemic. This development thus highlights the continuing challenges in implementing green growth ideals as the main strategy in addressing climate change.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted unprecedented economic damages across the globe. Amidst rigorous efforts to manage immediate issues like job losses and business displacements, low-carbon proponents have begun to make calls for a green recovery. In Southeast Asia, an intentional shift towards a green recovery seems unlikely. This is because governments fall back on existing development plans as the basis for economic recovery strategy. As green agenda has been weakly integrated in existing development plans, the progress of climate mitigation in Southeast Asia is likely to remain slow and mixed at best, with a possibility of it getting weakened because of a strong focus on the economy after the pandemic. This development thus highlights the continuing challenges in implementing green growth ideals as the main strategy in addressing climate change.
