Climate Action Tracker Global Update: Pandemic Recovery with Just a Hint of Green

The Climate Action Tracker finds that COVID-19 recovery packages in major emitting economies lack detailed green planning, with quantifiable interventions representing only a small fraction of total GDP investments. While the pandemic may lower emissions by 2030, this is attributed to economic downturn rather than structural decarbonisation, leaving global warming projections at 2.9°C based on current policies, far exceeding the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C limit.

• Analysis of recovery packages in China, EU27, India, South Korea, and the USA reveals a significant gap between total announced investments and detailed, quantifiable interventions. While overarching packages represent 8% to 14% of GDP, the specific interventions with available detailed information account for only 0.5% to 2.5% of GDP.
• Current policies are projected to lead to a global average temperature rise of 2.9°C, which fails to meet the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C limit. Although the economic downturn from COVID-19 is expected to lower emissions by 2030 compared to pre-pandemic scenarios, this reduction is not due to structural economic changes or decarbonisation and will not be sustained long-term.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2020). Climate Action Tracker Global Update: Pandemic Recovery with Just a Hint of Green. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/climate-action-tracker-global-update-pandemic-recovery-with-just-a-hint-of

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. Climate Action Tracker Global Update: Pandemic Recovery with Just a Hint of Green. 2020. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/climate-action-tracker-global-update-pandemic-recovery-with-just-a-hint-of.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=Climate Action Tracker Global Update: Pandemic Recovery with Just a Hint of Green |date=23 September 2020 |url=http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/climate-action-tracker-global-update-pandemic-recovery-with-just-a-hint-of |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2020climate, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{Climate Action Tracker Global Update: Pandemic Recovery with Just a Hint of Green}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/climate-action-tracker-global-update-pandemic-recovery-with-just-a-hint-of}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }