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Pollution: Greening costs jobs…
a lot of them

Wild animals roamed the neighbourhoods and foraged in empty streets in some parts of the world. Pollution levels dipped dramatically as factories closed down. The cost was unemployment

Supplied

Gazelles roam the streets of The Gardens area in Jebel Ali, Dubai, as motorists stayed away in March 2020.

Manoj Nair | Business Editor

Greta Thunberg would be pleased – cities miraculously cleared off the smog that used to hang heavy over them.
We started seeing animals that the world seemed to have given up on seeing again. It was as if the world decided to give itself a good scrubbing –– the only downside being that it required a pandemic.
But let’s ignore the world for a moment –– can the global economy survive without eliminating all the factors that contributed to the pollution? Will the millions of jobs decimated be the price that needs to be paid to clear the world of dirt and grime, and much worse?
Nothing has become starker than the choices that confront a return to a ‘green’ world. One lesson that governments and businesses will have learnt from this pandemic is that there can be no fast-tracking towards a less polluted world. Any drastic step will cost in terms of jobs lost… not created.

floatting

Credit: Supplied

Filipinos recently repatriated from the UAE pose for a group shot prior to their Dubai-Manila flight, in June 2020.

Take a look at the aviation industry –– the final tally on how many jobs were wiped off by the pandemic is still not clear. Airlines keep adding to the numbers the people they have had to let go. Will those jobs ever come back?
And just over a year ago, activists in Europe had gone vocal about ‘flight shaming’ frequent fliers and those headed out for summer vacation. Why? Because in their eyes, the airlines were adding to the pollution levels. In their eyes, this was something that could not be tolerated.
Well, they have had their wish… and even the most favourable forecasts suggest the airline industry will get back to pre-pandemic levels only by 2024. It all depends on how the next few months shape up for the industry in terms of demand creation.
But what of the jobs lost? Is that a necessary price to pay for freeing the Earth from smoke-filled, carbon-laden freeways and flight paths?
Greta Thunberg must come up with an answer.