South Asia’s Dual Crises: Coronavirus and Climate Change

South Asian countries are facing a double whammy -- the effects of the global pandemic and an increasingly urgent battle against pollution and the effects of climate change. The World Bank predicted in the spring that the region would suffer its worst economic performance in four decades this year. Severe flooding in recent weeks has further damaged prospects.

In this episode, recorded as part of the annual conference of the Association for Asian Studies, we discussed these issues with two experts. Mushfiq Mobarak, a professor of economics at Yale University, has been advising the Bangladeshi and Nepalese governments on their response to the pandemic. 

And Yamini Aiyar, president and chief executive of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, whose work has long focused on social policy and development.

We talk about the policy dilemmas facing governments of countries for which lockdowns can have disastrous side effects, such as a breakdown of food supply chains and the wipe out of household incomes. And we discuss the longer-term impact the pandemic could have as governments divert resources from areas such as environmental protection to deal with rebuilding their economies.

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