Experts urge climate considerations in COVID-19 recovery policies

Greenhouse gas emissions are on track to fall by record amounts in 2020, due largely to restrictions imposed by the worldwide response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, leading economists and others are calling for “green recoveries” driven by economic stimulus policies that encourage a shift to a low-carbon future. The study, by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz from Columbia University, leading U.K. climate expert Lord Nicholas Sterna, and others, says “The COVID-19 pandemic could mark a turning point in progress on climate change.”

Based on the authors’ examination of 700 economic stimulus policies introduced during or following the 2008 financial crisis, green projects create more jobs, drive higher short-term results and lead to increased cost-savings compared to more traditional stimulus approaches.