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'''Green recovery''' is a widely adopted name for a proposed package of environmental, regulatory and fiscal reforms to recover prosperity after the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. There has been broad support from political parties, governments, activists and academia across the [[European Union]],<ref>'Boosting the EU's green recovery: Commission invests €1 billion in innovative clean technology projects' ([https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_1250 3 July 2020])</ref> the [[United Kingdom]],<ref>'Building back a green and resilient recovery' (8 July 2020) [https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/building-back-a-green-and-resilient-recovery gov.uk]. E McGaughey, M Lawrence and Common Wealth, '[https://www.common-wealth.co.uk/interactive-digital-projects/green-recovery-act#2 The Green Recovery Act 2020]', proposed UK law, and [https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5e1b5c6919c05c76379535f9/5f0379ca94d438b843b8fdef_The%20Green%20Recovery%20Act_July2020.pdf pdf]</ref> the United States,<ref>e.g. Tom Steyer, '[https://www.tomsteyer.com/california-economic-recovery/ A fair, green recovery for all Californians]'. New York City, [https://www1.nyc.gov/site/cpp/our-programs/covid19-green-recovery.page COVID-19 Green Recovery].</ref> and other countries to ensure that investments to lift countries out of economic recession are spent in a way that combats [[climate change]], including the reduction of [[coal]], [[oil]], and [[Fuel gas|gas]] use, as well as the investment in clean transport, renewable energy, eco-friendly buildings, and sustainable corporate or financial practices. These initiatives are supported by the [[United Nations]] and the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]].<ref>M Holder, 'OECD and UN institutions demand green economic recovery from Covid-19' (5 June 2020) [https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4016111/oecd-institutions-demand-green-economic-recovery-covid-19 Business Green]</ref> In July 2021, the [[International Energy Agency]] warned that only around 2% of economic [[bailout]] [[money]] worldwide was going to [[sustainable energy|clean energy]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Key findings – Sustainable Recovery Tracker – Analysis |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/sustainable-recovery-tracker/key-findings |website=IEA |access-date=23 July 2021}}</ref>
'''Green recovery''' is a widely adopted name for a proposed package of environmental, regulatory and fiscal reforms to recover prosperity after the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. There has been broad support from political parties, governments, activists and academia across the [[European Union]],<ref>'Boosting the EU's green recovery: Commission invests €1 billion in innovative clean technology projects' ([https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_1250 3 July 2020])</ref> the [[United Kingdom]],<ref>'Building back a green and resilient recovery' (8 July 2020) [https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/building-back-a-green-and-resilient-recovery gov.uk]. E McGaughey, M Lawrence and Common Wealth, '[https://www.common-wealth.co.uk/interactive-digital-projects/green-recovery-act#2 The Green Recovery Act 2020]', proposed UK law, and [https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5e1b5c6919c05c76379535f9/5f0379ca94d438b843b8fdef_The%20Green%20Recovery%20Act_July2020.pdf pdf]</ref> the United States,<ref>e.g. Tom Steyer, '[https://www.tomsteyer.com/california-economic-recovery/ A fair, green recovery for all Californians]'. New York City, [https://www1.nyc.gov/site/cpp/our-programs/covid19-green-recovery.page COVID-19 Green Recovery].</ref> and other countries to ensure that investments to lift countries out of economic recession are spent in a way that combats [[climate change]], including the reduction of [[coal]], [[oil]], and [[Fuel gas|gas]] use, as well as the investment in clean transport, renewable energy, eco-friendly buildings, and sustainable corporate or financial practices. These initiatives are supported by the [[United Nations]] and the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]].<ref>M Holder, 'OECD and UN institutions demand green economic recovery from Covid-19' (5 June 2020) [https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4016111/oecd-institutions-demand-green-economic-recovery-covid-19 Business Green]</ref> In July 2021, the [[International Energy Agency]] warned that only around 2% of economic [[bailout]] [[money]] worldwide was going to [[sustainable energy|clean energy]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Key findings – Sustainable Recovery Tracker – Analysis |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/sustainable-recovery-tracker/key-findings |website=IEA |access-date=23 July 2021}}</ref> OECD data shows that only 17% of COVID-19 recovery investments funds have been allocated to a "green recovery" as of March 2021.<ref name="10.1093/biosci/biab079"/>


==Background==
==Background==
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In July 2020 the [[European Council]] agreed to a massive recovery fund of €750 billion, branded [[Next Generation EU]] (NGEU), to support member states hit by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. An overall climate target of 30% will apply to the total amount of expenditure from the NGEU in compliance with the [[Paris climate accord|Paris climate agreement]].<ref>[https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/45109/210720-euco-final-conclusions-en.pdf Special meeting of the European Council, 17-21 July 2020, paragraphs A21, 18] Retrieved 15 November 2020.</ref>
In July 2020 the [[European Council]] agreed to a massive recovery fund of €750 billion, branded [[Next Generation EU]] (NGEU), to support member states hit by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. An overall climate target of 30% will apply to the total amount of expenditure from the NGEU in compliance with the [[Paris climate accord|Paris climate agreement]].<ref>[https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/45109/210720-euco-final-conclusions-en.pdf Special meeting of the European Council, 17-21 July 2020, paragraphs A21, 18] Retrieved 15 November 2020.</ref>


One proposal for a green recovery of the global economic system is funding [[Nuclear power|nuclear energy]]. New nuclear technology is a [[Low-carbon power|low carbon energy source]] that is also clean, reliable, affordable, and safe.<ref>{{Cite web|title=16 Ways The Pandemic Recovery Could Be Green|url=https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2020/06/25/climate-change-pandemic-massachusetts-coronavirus-stimulus-funds|access-date=2021-01-22|website=www.wbur.org|language=en}}</ref> [[Small modular reactor|Small modular reactors]] are growing in popularity as the preferred type of nuclear technology to be implemented into communities. Small modular reactors are a type of [[Nuclear reactor|nuclear fission reactor]] that is smaller, more cost-effective, and more modern than older reactors. This allows the reactor to be more easily placed into already developed areas while providing a stable and consistent type of [[sustainable energy]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)|url=https://www.energy.gov/ne/nuclear-reactor-technologies/small-modular-nuclear-reactors|access-date=2021-01-22|website=Energy.gov|language=en}}</ref>
One of 16 proposals reported by WBUR News for a green recovery of the global economic system is funding [[Nuclear power|nuclear energy]]. New nuclear technology is a [[Low-carbon power|low carbon energy source]] that some proponents controversially argue to also be clean, reliable, affordable, and safe.<ref>{{Cite web|title=16 Ways The Pandemic Recovery Could Be Green|url=https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2020/06/25/climate-change-pandemic-massachusetts-coronavirus-stimulus-funds|access-date=2021-01-22|website=www.wbur.org|language=en}}</ref> [[Small modular reactor|Small modular reactors]] are growing in popularity as the preferred type of nuclear technology to be implemented into communities. Small modular reactors are a type of [[Nuclear reactor|nuclear fission reactor]] that is smaller, more cost-effective, and more modern than older reactors. This allows the reactor to be more easily placed into already developed areas while providing what some proponents argue to be a stable and consistent type of [[sustainable energy]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)|url=https://www.energy.gov/ne/nuclear-reactor-technologies/small-modular-nuclear-reactors|access-date=2021-01-22|website=Energy.gov|language=en}}</ref>

An update to the [[World Scientists' Warning to Humanity#2019 warning on climate change and 2021 update|World Scientists' Warning to Humanity]] found the 17% of COVID-19 recovery investments funds that have reportedly been allocated to a "green recovery" as of March 2021 to be insufficient, warning that new climate policies should be part of COVID-19 recovery plans, that they also need address root causes, rather than symptoms, with system changes above politics being required and immediate, drastic reductions in greenhouse gases to be prioritized.<ref>{{cite news |title=Critical measures of global heating reaching tipping point, study finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/27/global-heating-critical-measures-tipping-point-study |access-date=13 August 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=28 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="10.1093/biosci/biab079">{{cite journal |last1=Ripple |first1=William J |last2=Wolf |first2=Christopher |last3=Newsome |first3=Thomas M |last4=Gregg |first4=Jillian W |last5=Lenton |first5=Timothy M |last6=Palomo |first6=Ignacio |last7=Eikelboom |first7=Jasper A J |last8=Law |first8=Beverly E |last9=Huq |first9=Saleemul |last10=Duffy |first10=Philip B |last11=Rockström |first11=Johan |title=World Scientists' Warning of a Climate Emergency 2021 |journal=BioScience |date=28 July 2021 |pages=biab079 |doi=10.1093/biosci/biab079}}</ref>


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{{sect-stub|date=July 2020}}

Revision as of 20:52, 23 August 2021

Green recovery is a widely adopted name for a proposed package of environmental, regulatory and fiscal reforms to recover prosperity after the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been broad support from political parties, governments, activists and academia across the European Union,[1] the United Kingdom,[2] the United States,[3] and other countries to ensure that investments to lift countries out of economic recession are spent in a way that combats climate change, including the reduction of coal, oil, and gas use, as well as the investment in clean transport, renewable energy, eco-friendly buildings, and sustainable corporate or financial practices. These initiatives are supported by the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.[4] In July 2021, the International Energy Agency warned that only around 2% of economic bailout money worldwide was going to clean energy.[5] OECD data shows that only 17% of COVID-19 recovery investments funds have been allocated to a "green recovery" as of March 2021.[6]

Background

Since the industrial revolution, the burning of coal, oil and gas has released millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing global warming. By 2020, the Earth's average temperature had risen by over 1°C since pre-industrial levels. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has calculated that continuing to burn coal, oil, and gas reserves will heat the planet by between 0.8 degrees to 2.5 degrees, per 1000 gigatonnes of burning carbon[7] and there are 2900 gigatonnes of carbon in proven reserves.[8] Burning a fraction of the coal, oil, and gas reserves will therefore lead to uncontrollable planetary heating, resulting in widespread crop failures, and the 6th mass extinction event. By the end of 2019, there had been increasing incidents of wild fires in Australia, the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, and the Arctic forests in Russia,[9] as well as increased risks of hurricanes in the United States and Caribbean, and flooding. In 2015, the vast majority of countries signed the Paris Agreement committing to limit global carbon emissions to prevent temperature rises by over 2 degrees, with an ambition to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. Activists and politicians, particularly younger people, have become increasingly vocal in demanding a "Green New Deal" in the US,[10] or a Green Industrial Revolution in the UK,[11] to end the use of fossil fuels in transport, energy generation, agriculture, buildings, and finance. In late 2019, the EU announced a European Green Deal, although this was said to fall far short of the goal of ending fossil fuel use in the bloc by 2050.[12]

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused countries to lock down their economies, in order to prevent infections and deaths from the spread of the virus. This required many businesses to suspend work, as people travelled less, shopped less, and stayed at home to work more. In most countries this caused some job losses, while in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries with weaker labour rights, there were acutely high rises in unemployment. The fall in economic activity also caused a fall in greenhouse gas emissions.[13] This encouraged campaign groups to call for, and politicians and governments to promise, a "green recovery".

As several recovery programs have been planned to combat the economic crisis, voices called for the integration of climate mitigation strategies. The implementation of green standards in recovery packages and the support of projects that foster carbon neutrality have been major claims. In this regard, “green recovery” has been framed as opportunity rather than burden sharing, as a sustainable recovery path does not only lead to lower emissions but can support economic growth and resilience. In earlier discourses, these positive side effects have been coined as co-benefits. According to the IPCC, co-benefits can be defined as the: “the positive effects that a policy or measure aimed at one objective might have on other objectives, irrespective of the net effect on overall social welfare".[14] Different measures can have several positive socio-economic impacts. The deployment of renewable energies can significantly boost employment and industrial development. Depending on the country and the deployment scenario, replacing coal power plants with renewable energy can more than double the number of jobs per average MW capacity.[15] Besides economic effects, climate mitigation strategies can increase socio-economic and health-related co-benefits. The deployment of solar mini-grids can improve electricity access for rural areas [16] and the replacement of coal-based energy with renewables can lower the number of premature deaths caused by air pollution.[17]

Green recovery proposals

Proposals for a "green recovery" vary widely according to the proponents.

In the UK, the government proposed "a green and resilient recovery," and announced £3 billion in funding for building renovations in July.[18] By contrast, in early July, an academic and think tank group proposed a "Green Recovery Act" that would target nine fields of law reform, on transport, energy generation, agriculture, fossil fuels, local government, international agreement, finance and corporate governance, employment, and investment. This has the goal of establishing duties on all public bodies and regulators to end use of all coal, oil and gas "as fast as technologically practicable," with strict exceptions if there are not yet technical alternatives.[19]

In June 2020, the German government pledged a green recovery with funding of €40 billion (£36 billion or US$45 billion) as part of a €130 billion recovery package.[20]

In July 2020 the European Council agreed to a massive recovery fund of €750 billion, branded Next Generation EU (NGEU), to support member states hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. An overall climate target of 30% will apply to the total amount of expenditure from the NGEU in compliance with the Paris climate agreement.[21]

One of 16 proposals reported by WBUR News for a green recovery of the global economic system is funding nuclear energy. New nuclear technology is a low carbon energy source that some proponents controversially argue to also be clean, reliable, affordable, and safe.[22] Small modular reactors are growing in popularity as the preferred type of nuclear technology to be implemented into communities. Small modular reactors are a type of nuclear fission reactor that is smaller, more cost-effective, and more modern than older reactors. This allows the reactor to be more easily placed into already developed areas while providing what some proponents argue to be a stable and consistent type of sustainable energy.[23]

An update to the World Scientists' Warning to Humanity found the 17% of COVID-19 recovery investments funds that have reportedly been allocated to a "green recovery" as of March 2021 to be insufficient, warning that new climate policies should be part of COVID-19 recovery plans, that they also need address root causes, rather than symptoms, with system changes above politics being required and immediate, drastic reductions in greenhouse gases to be prioritized.[24][6]

Economics

See also: Economics of climate change mitigation

The broad goal has been to recover the economy and repair the damage to the climate and environment at the same time.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 'Boosting the EU's green recovery: Commission invests €1 billion in innovative clean technology projects' (3 July 2020)
  2. ^ 'Building back a green and resilient recovery' (8 July 2020) gov.uk. E McGaughey, M Lawrence and Common Wealth, 'The Green Recovery Act 2020', proposed UK law, and pdf
  3. ^ e.g. Tom Steyer, 'A fair, green recovery for all Californians'. New York City, COVID-19 Green Recovery.
  4. ^ M Holder, 'OECD and UN institutions demand green economic recovery from Covid-19' (5 June 2020) Business Green
  5. ^ "Key findings – Sustainable Recovery Tracker – Analysis". IEA. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  6. ^ a b Ripple, William J; Wolf, Christopher; Newsome, Thomas M; Gregg, Jillian W; Lenton, Timothy M; Palomo, Ignacio; Eikelboom, Jasper A J; Law, Beverly E; Huq, Saleemul; Duffy, Philip B; Rockström, Johan (28 July 2021). "World Scientists' Warning of a Climate Emergency 2021". BioScience: biab079. doi:10.1093/biosci/biab079.
  7. ^ IPCC, ipcc.ch, Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report (2014) 62
  8. ^ C McGlade and P Ekins, ‘The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2oC’ (2015) 517 Nature 187, Figure 1
  9. ^ F Pearce, ‘Long Shaped By Fire, Australia Enters a Perilous New Era’ (16 January 2020) YaleEnvironment360
  10. ^ e.g. Bernie Sanders, Green New Deal.
  11. ^ See Green New Deal Group, A Green New Deal (July 2008)
  12. ^ European Environmental Bureau, 'EU plans multi-billion euro ‘green recovery’ but falls short in crucial areas' (27 May 2020) eeb.org. Friends of the Earth Europe, 'EU Green Deal: fails to slam on the brakes' (11 December 2019)
  13. ^ S Evans, 'Analysis: Coronavirus set to cause largest ever annual fall in CO2 emissions' (9 April 2020) Carbon Brief. F Harvey, 'Steep fall in emissions during coronavirus is no cause for celebration' (19 May 2020) Guardian
  14. ^ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2014). Climate Change 2014 Mitigation of Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9781107415416. ISBN 978-1-107-41541-6.
  15. ^ IASS/Green ID (2019). "Future skills and job creation through renewable energy in Vietnam. Assessing the co-benefits of decarbonising the power sector" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ IASS/TERI (2019). "Secure and reliable electricity access with renewable energy mini-grids in rural India. Assessing the co-benefits of decarbonising the power sector" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ IASS/CSIR (2019). "Improving health and reducing costs through renewable energy in South Africa. Assessing the co-benefits of decarbonising the power sector" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ F Harvey, 'Treasury's 'green recovery' not enough, say campaigners' (7 July 2020)Guardian
  19. ^ E McGaughey, M Lawrence and Common Wealth, 'The Green Recovery Act 2020', proposed UK law on website, and pdf. See 'The Guardian view on a post-Covid-19 recovery: not much building back greener' (7 July 2020) Guardian, "Mr Johnson has talked of a “new deal” and he could take up the suggestion by the Common Wealth thinktank to legislate for a green recovery act to drive an economic revival with renewable energy at its core."
  20. ^ JS Murray, 'Green Recovery: Germany unveils plans for €40bn climate spending surge' (4 June 2020) Business Green
  21. ^ Special meeting of the European Council, 17-21 July 2020, paragraphs A21, 18 Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  22. ^ "16 Ways The Pandemic Recovery Could Be Green". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  23. ^ "Advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)". Energy.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  24. ^ "Critical measures of global heating reaching tipping point, study finds". The Guardian. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.

References

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