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
Governments should use Covid-19 recovery efforts as an opportunity to phase out support for fossil fuels (OECD & IEA)
As governments design stimulus measures for economies hit by the Covid-19 crisis, they should seize the opportunity of historically low oil prices to redirect some
How to raise an easy $1 billion per day for the Covid-19 recovery (Climate Home News)
According to this article, a temporary tax hike on gasoline and diesel is one of the fairest, greenest ways to fund post-pandemic economic stimulus packages.
Global institutions unite around key actions for green and fair economic recovery from COVID-19 (UN PAGE)
On World Environment Day, 5th June 2020, global institutions working on development, labour and environment have united around key actions for spurring a green, just
Reports
Equity, Climate Justice, and Fossil Fuel Extraction: Principles for a Managed Phase Out (OilChange)
As COVID-19 and other factors force an unmanaged decline of oil and gas, a new peer-reviewed study by Greg Muttitt and Sivan Kartha outlines how
IMF Fiscal Monitor – April 2020
April’s IMF Fiscal Monitor elaborates on the importance of fiscal measures to respond the COVID-19 related crisis. Chapter 1 argues that fiscal policies are at
What policies for greening the crisis response and economic recovery? Lessons learned from past green stimulus measures and implications for the COVID-19 crisis (OECD)
This paper evaluates green stimulus packages that were introduced in response to the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007-08 and draws lessons relevant for greening
Policy Briefs
UNEP Policy Brief on Building Back Better – Role of Green Fiscal Policies
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the many fragilities of our economies, and deepened existing inequalities, while highlighting the need for resilience, innovation, and cooperation in
Redesigning tax for a just, green recovery (Common Wealth)
In response to Covid-19, the Treasury is considering changes to the UK’s tax system on a scale not seen for decades. While changes to the
Pricing carbon during the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic (LSE/Grantham Institute)
This brief argues that once the immediate rescue has been secured and countries move towards recovery from COVID-19, carefully implementing carbon pricing while reducing fossil
