🔎 What’s going on?
A study from Oxford University by a group of international economists this week found that a green recovery stimulus (or spending) by governments can repair the global economy.
✅ Awesome, so let’s break it down...
As the COVID-19 global recession looms, economists, politicians, investors and businesses are looking for ways to restart the economy. International economists including Lord Nicholas Stern and Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz have assessed the economic impact of climate-friendly policies versus usual recovery policies. They categorised and reviewed over 700 stimulus policies into 25 broad categories and conducted a global survey with 231 finance ministers and central bank officials from 53 countries. They found that overall in the long-term, climate-friendly policies have superior results on the economy and global warming.
❓Why should I care?
Since April 2020, G20 countries have released US$7.3 trillion worth of government spending to rescue people’s and businesses livelihoods. Over 300 policies have implemented since April alone. However, according to the study, only 4% of these policies were ‘green’ (with the potential to reduce GHG emissions), another 4% of policies were ‘brown’ (meaning they will likely increase GHG emissions) and 92% were ‘colourless’ meaning they maintain the fossil fuel status quo (i.e. nothing changes).
🚦 Where do we need to be?
Governments should implement recovery policies that deliver both climate and economic goals. In particular, climate policies should support in generating 7.6% of GHG emissions reductions every single year for the coming decade. The study recommends five types of policies:
- Clean physical infrastructure investment (e.g. renewable energy assets, storage (including hydrogen), grid modernisation and CCS technology);
- Building efficiency spending for renovations and retrofits (e.g. improved insulation, heating, and domestic energy storage systems);
- Investment in education and training to address immediate unemployment from COVID-19 and structural shifts from decarbonisation;
- Natural capital investment for ecosystem resilience and regeneration (e.g. restoration of carbon-rich habitats and climate-friendly agriculture); and
- Clean R&D spending
The study also calls for conditional bailouts for carbon-intensive industries such as airlines and recommends international collaboration in designing climate-friendly policies through ‘a Sustainable Recovery Alliance’.
👤 What can I do about it?
The number one thing you can do is vote in your local and national elections (when you get the opportunity of course, after lockdown end!).
Write to your local MPs and ask them to implement these five types of policies in their election manifestos.
Encourage your employers to implement as many of these five types of policies.
If you are a business owner, then, of course, do go right ahead and start implementing any of the five policies outlined above.