The Green Rebound: Mobilising COVID responses for climate neutrality

The document explores the intersection of COVID-19 recovery and climate action, arguing that state bailout packages and stimulus measures provide a short window to drive decarbonization and align recovery with the Paris Agreement. It examines the shifting role of the state, the potential for universal basic income to support transitioning workers, and the opportunity to leverage increased public trust in science to counter populism. The paper also highlights the risk of "quick hit" high-carbon responses and the need to avoid backsliding into business-as-usual development.

• State bailout packages offer an opportunity to accelerate the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries and shifts to low-carbon energy, though there is a risk that "quick hit" responses with high carbon intensity or industry "revenge effects" could undermine this momentum.
• The pandemic has increased the deference of policy makers toward science, which may undermine populist challenges to climate action by increasing public trust in expertise, provided governments do not instrumentalize science to strengthen illiberal tendencies.
• Implementing a universal basic income (UBI) could facilitate the low-carbon transition by providing a social safety net for workers transitioning out of restructured major industries, similar to social protection models seen in Nordic countries.
• Low fossil fuel prices present a strategic window to implement taxation and end subsidies; examples include India taxing the oil price difference for COVID-19 recovery and the Netherlands conditioning the KLM airline bailout on lower future CO2 emissions.
• Recovery measures must be legally and strategically aligned with the Paris Agreement to prevent a return to high-carbon development, while the 'new normal' of remote work may reduce transport emissions but could be offset by increased e-commerce carbon footprints.

APA

Climate Strategies (2020). The Green Rebound: Mobilising COVID responses for climate neutrality. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-New-Normal-Briefing-Paper_20.05.pdf

Chicago

Climate Strategies. The Green Rebound: Mobilising COVID responses for climate neutrality. 2020. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-New-Normal-Briefing-Paper_20.05.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Strategies |title=The Green Rebound: Mobilising COVID responses for climate neutrality |date=May 2020 |url=https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-New-Normal-Briefing-Paper_20.05.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatestrategies2020green, author = {{Climate Strategies}}, title = {{The Green Rebound: Mobilising COVID responses for climate neutrality}}, institution = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2020}, month = may, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-New-Normal-Briefing-Paper_20.05.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }