Green Recovery
The transition to a different economic model was foreseeable even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The threat of global warming, reckless overconsumption of resources and growing inequality were highlighting the limits of growth. COVID-19 has now heightened this: the more eco-systems are destroyed, the more extreme climate change will become and the greater the likelihood of new pandemics – with all the associated negative impacts, particularly for the poorest.
To prevent these exceptional situations from becoming the rule, sustainability should become the top priority, as set out in the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. The objective: environmentally friendly, gender-balanced, socially responsible societies. The responses to this crisis could accelerate this necessary societal and ecological transformation, provided that recovery packages set the right priorities. The additional funds should be invested in areas including renewable energy, green hydrogen, energy efficiency, water-saving agricultural practices and biodiversity conservation. And they should re-dress the balance in places where climate change is threatening people’s livelihoods.

per cent of post-COVID-19 measures are regarded
as green and sustainable by the OECD.
GIZ is supporting a host of green recovery measures in its partners countries. It is promoting sustainable jobs, resource-saving technologies and green financial products. With the right decisions and investments now, GIZ wants to foster a swift transition to economies and societies that are more sustainable overall. The post-COVID-19 age thus provides a good opportunity for two-fold benefits.

“Humanity is facing a pandemic, an economic crisis and an ecological breakdown - we cannot afford to lose on any front.”
Inger Andersen
UNEP Executive Director
Credits: powerstock - stock.adobe.com, UNEP, IEA