This short commentary might interest GEP folks: Coronavirus And Global Supply Chain Disruption: A Wake-Up Call For Climate Policy?<https://www.forbes.com/sites/prakashdolsak/2020/03/07/coronavirus-and-global-supply-chain-disruption-a-wake-up-call-for-climate-policy/#3c77545d1161>
Coronavirus has slowed down economic activity and temporarily reduced China’s carbon emissions. However, there is a deeper implication for climate policy: decarbonization depends on global supply chains for inputs required for electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines. What if these supply chains get disrupted? The consequences are serious when inputs come predominantly from a handful of countries. China is the leading supplier of “rare earth elements”, which gives it enormous power in the renewable energy market. For some critical minerals<https://earthjournalism.net/stories/the-dark-side-of-renewable-energy>, especially cobalt, the world relies on conflict-ridden and politically unstable countries, such as Congo, which again poses a problem for supply chain reliability. The bottom-line is that supply disruptions abroad can derail decarbonization at home Aseen ________________________________________________ Aseem Prakash<https://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/> Professor, Department of Political Science Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences Founding Director, UW Center for Environmental Politics<http://depts.washington.edu/envirpol/> University of Washington, Seattle aseemprakash.net<http://aseemprakash.net> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/MWHPR08MB279861DDD4E0477A492E6788DDFE0%40MWHPR08MB2798.namprd08.prod.outlook.com.
