Covid-19
COVID-19 has plunged the global economy into crisis. Green fiscal policies (GFP) can play a key role in shaping the recovery. As governments are devising green fiscal stimulus policies, they must look to maximize short-term growth and employment effects, but they have also a lever in hand to steer economies to a green and fair transition. The collapse of the oil price has created a window of opportunity for carbon taxes and fossil fuel subsidy reform to mobilise revenue and drive low-carbon development. Green budgeting can rationalise inefficient expenditures and align spending with sustainability. In developing countries with limited fiscal space, GFP can be part of a sustainable solution.
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.
Pandemic can accelerate electric mobility in Latin America
Changes in transport use due to the Covid-19 pandemic and national recovery plans are an opportunity for governments and businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean to accelerate the transition to electric mobility, according to a recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Reports
Monitoring the Climate Impact of Fiscal Policy – Lessons from Tracking the COVID-19 Response (IMF)
This paper takes stock of the contributions made by these various trackers, identifies strengths and weaknesses of their methodologies, and draws lessons for assessing the climate impact of fiscal policy going forward. It finds that: trackers provided useful assessments of the (generally low) level of greenness and raised awareness; trackers’ methodologies, while valid and innovative, varied significantly with some important, if currently largely unavoidable, weaknesses; and the way forward should involve tracking the greenness of entire government budgets, rather than just their response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Fiscal Policies for a Low-Carbon Economy (World Bank)
The report Fiscal policies for a low-carbon economy makes an important contribution to our understanding of which fiscal policies work best and can be a guide to policy makers as they consider the most effective ways to achieve a low-carbon future.
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.
Policy Briefs
Are We Building Back Better – COP26 Update
Building Back Better Update – COP26: Governments are not reorienting their economies to a green future and vulnerable nations are being left behind Although COP26
Achieving Green Growth and Climate Action Post-COVID-19 (GGGI)
The report reinforces the need for countries to develop Green New Deals for the economy post COVID-19 and offers recommendations to policymakers on the most effective design for COVID-19 recovery packages while facing budget shortfalls, rising debt, and declining tax revenues.
Green Recovery for Practitioners: Examples from around the world for building forward better (GIZ)
Looking at how communities, cities and countries have put the idea of a green recovery into practice, this new report presents a compilation of 23 examples from more than 20 countries worldwide.
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