The world is going through a moment of great impact that directly affects our model of life. The point that I would like to draw your attention to here is that we cannot transform the consciousness awakened during the pandemic into false promises. The Energy Policy Tracker is an excellent tool to monitor the evolution of investments for the transition from the energy matrix to a more sustainable model.
According to the platform based on information generated by 14 organizations from different countries, under the coordination of the research center of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), of the values allocated by the G20 countries for energy policies since the beginning of the pandemic , 33% are directing to support initiatives that involve the promotion of clean energy.
The database is updated weekly to provide the latest information on Covid-19 government policy responses from a climate and energy perspective. It is possible to identify data by country, type of energy, financial mechanisms and other categories to quickly see what types of measures countries are implementing to face the crisis and what is shaping the future energy system.
As I have already highlighted in other articles, we must learn a lot from the crisis, despite all the suffering that still involves us. Looking at the moment we live in as an opportunity to understand the impact of pollution on people’s health, I highlight the importance of strengthening the role that biofuels have in the future of the planet.
The cost of the transition is much lower than the cost of our health and the loss of quality of life. A recent Harvard University study found that people with Covid-19 who live in regions of the United States with high levels of air pollution are more likely to die from the disease than people who live in less polluted areas.
The study found, for example, that someone who has lived for decades in a municipality with high levels of fine particle pollution is 8% more likely to die from Covid-19 than someone who lives in a region that has only one microgram per cubic meter at less of that pollutant.
Plínio Nastari, Civil Society representative at the National Energy Policy Council, explained in an article that the use of biofuels in mobility in conjunction with traditional fuels has been a relevant factor in reducing pollution generated by particulate matter and other pollutants.
“Engineering has developed technologies to use them efficiently, with great strategic, economic and environmental value, which need to be intensified”, he analyzed. May this be a moment of commitment to change. May the experience with the pandemic lead us to a new political and socially conscious practice.