COVID-19: Re-imagining the Global Energy Economy

Srivastava, L. (2020). COVID-19: Re-imagining the Global Energy Economy. IIASA , Laxenburg.

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Abstract

COVID-19, first reported in China in the end of December 2019, took the world by storm. Even after a few weeks of experience with the virus, till then largely restricted to China, the rest of the world did not see the virus as a risk – let alone an existential threat to many! Within a matter of the next three to four weeks, the wheels of the world economy screeched to a halt. Among the first sectors to be hit was the airline industry. In an effort to curb the international transmission of COVID-19, country after country closed its borders to international air travel. This was soon followed by the closing of regional and domestic air travel too. With no other means to address the pandemic, Governments resorted to hygiene measures to check the spread of the virus, and both control as well as phase out the load on the health infrastructure of countries. This was invariably followed by a lockdown with nearly half the world under lockdown by the end of March 2020. How long would such drastic measures continue is yet uncertain. However, what is certain is the enormous economic impact of the shutdowns—the world is already said to be in a recession worse than that experienced in 2009 according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). And the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned that the economic impacts of the actions resulting from this pandemic will be felt for a very long time.

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