Building Back Greener In the Post-COVID-19 Era

The report "Building Back Greener In the Post-COVID-19 Era" by the Green Economy Coalition argues that the global economic response to COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and the climate crisis must move beyond short-term stabilization toward systemic structural reform. It advocates for an "Inclusive Green Recovery" that integrates social protection with environmental restoration to build long-term resilience.

• Global green recovery spending has been minimal compared to fossil-fuel investments; in 2020, only 18% of the USD 14.6 trillion allocated for COVID-19 recovery was designated as green spending.
• Green recovery efforts have primarily focused on decarbonization, neglecting other critical areas such as nature restoration, biodiversity preservation, climate adaptation, and circular production and consumption.
• The report identifies three phases of economic response: 'Stabilise' (immediate crisis triage), 'Stimulate' (fiscal and monetary kick-starts with potential for green conditionality), and 'Structural recovery' (long-term systemic reforms). It notes that most governments have failed to move beyond the first two phases.
• The report highlights the critical role of Micro, Small and Medium-size Enterprises (MSMEs), noting they represent up to 90% of employment in some emerging and developing economies, yet they often face a "missing middle" financing gap characterized by high interest rates and short repayment periods.
• Specific national examples of green recovery include Pakistan's "tree tsunami" afforestation scheme which created 85,000 jobs and 15 new national parks, and Indonesia's Green Recovery Roadmap which aims to create over 300,000 jobs and avoid 400 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over 25 years.
• The report recommends innovative financial mechanisms to support the Global South, such as debt-for-nature swaps, as seen in Belize's "blue bond" transaction and Antigua and Barbuda's negotiations with the Green Climate Fund to redirect US$147M in debt toward climate projects.

APA

Greenfield, O., McLean, J., & Hopkins, C. (2023). Building Back Greener In the Post-COVID-19 Era. Green Economy Coalition. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/UNEP_GEC_Building_Back_Greener_2022_Perspective-Issue42.pdf

Chicago

Greenfield, Oliver, Jean McLean, and Chris Hopkins. Building Back Greener In the Post-COVID-19 Era. Green Economy Coalition, 2023. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/UNEP_GEC_Building_Back_Greener_2022_Perspective-Issue42.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Greenfield |first1=Oliver |last2=McLean |first2=Jean |last3=Hopkins |first3=Chris |title=Building Back Greener In the Post-COVID-19 Era |publisher=Green Economy Coalition |date=January 2023 |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/UNEP_GEC_Building_Back_Greener_2022_Perspective-Issue42.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greenfield2023building, author = {Greenfield, Oliver and McLean, Jean and Hopkins, Chris}, title = {{Building Back Greener In the Post-COVID-19 Era}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/UNEP_GEC_Building_Back_Greener_2022_Perspective-Issue42.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }