Climate Change
News
Green recovery: Spur small business climate action for stable economies, says international small business leader
In a world that is dominated increasingly by the effects of climate change, small businesses need more support than ever to keep economies running and citizens happy and healthy. Small businesses, governments and industry leaders alike can work together to build a resilient ecosystem by raising awareness, emphasizing proactivity over reactivity and cultivating accountability.
It cannot be any recovery: it must be sustainable and it must be digital
How European insurance industry partnerships can support the EU’s drive toward a climate-neutral continent and economic recovery.
Austria announces carbon tax, offset by reduction in other taxes
Austria announced the introduction of a new “eco-social” reform of the tax system. Everyone in the governing coalition gets something: but does the environment?
Reports
Debt Relief for a Green & Inclusive Recovery: Securing Private Sector Participation and Policy Space for Sustainable Development (BUGDPC, HBF, SOAS)
A new report lays out an ambitious proposal for concerted and comprehensive debt relief on a global scale to free up resources in heavily indebted developing countries to support sustainable recoveries, boost economic resilience and foster a just transition to a low-carbon economy.
Sustainable Recovery Tracker (IEA)
The new IEA Sustainable Recovery Tracker measures global recovery plans against this target level of spending by monitoring energy-related policies and government spending on clean energy measures by country and by sector in the wake of the pandemic.
G-20 Member Countries Support Fossil Fuels at Levels Untenable to Achieve Paris Agreement Goals (BloombergNEF, Bloomberg Philanthropies)
BloombergNEF and Bloomberg Philanthropies report reveals G-20 member countries have given more than $3.3 trillion in subsidies for coal, oil, gas, and fossil-fuel power from 2015-2019.
Policy Briefs
Fiscal policies for a low-carbon economy
Research on climate economics finds that green bonds can accelerate a low-carbon transition, may have a positive impact on aggregate output and employment, help to advance renewable energy technology, address better the issue of fair transition, and be a stabilizing force on the financial market compared to conventional, in particular fossil fuel-based, assets.
Border Carbon Adjustments without Full (or Any) Carbon Pricing (Resources for the Future)
As more world leaders consider levying border taxes on climate-damaging goods, a new study looks at ways it can be done in countries—including the United States—that haven’t established a domestic market for carbon emissions.
Redesigning debt: Lessons from HIPC for COVID, climate and nature (IIED)
Focusing on lessons from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, established 25 years ago by the World Bank and IMF, this paper proposes a new international debt relief initiative, which prioritises investment in climate and nature, to get developing countries’ economies back on track post-pandemic.
