Only ecology-based economies can avoid future catastrophe

Speed read Time to spur a clean industrial revolution, says UN environment and faith advisor Need to transition to resilient, local, urban agro-ecological farming, producing food with less energy and water Post-COVID19 economic shift requires incentivising rapid growth of sustainable production Much has been made of the brief respite in carbon emissions that coronavirus has given the world. Fossil fuels, agriculture and deforestation The first priority must shift trillion-dollar fossil fuel subsidies into the renewable energy sector. Agriculture is also one of the biggest carbon emitters, with huge inputs of fossil fuels involved in manufacturing pesticides and fertiliser, plus processing, packaging and distribution.