A week after India launched the auction process for coal blocks for commercial mining, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said there is no reason for any country to include coal in their COVID-19 recovery plans and investments should instead be made in non-polluting energy sources.

Mr. Guterres on Thursday presented the United Nations Response on COVID-19 that documents not only the action taken by the world body over the last three months of the pandemic, but also offers a roadmap toward recovering better.

“We cannot go back to the way it was and simply recreate the systems that have aggravated the crisis. We need to build back better with more sustainable, inclusive, gender-equal societies and economies,” Mr. Guterres said in remarks during a virtual press conference.