Five sustainability tests for Europe’s recovery plans

A commentary by the Think Sustainable Europe network urging the European Council to ensure recovery plans are based on scientific evidence, strengthen resilience, protect vulnerable populations, avoid carbon lock-in, and provide sufficient green funding. The authors propose an independent green recovery scrutiny board to monitor the adequacy of these plans.

• Recovery plans and economic stimulus should be guided by five specific tests: basing decisions on scientific evidence, strengthening economic, social, and ecological resilience, prioritising support for vulnerable households and regions, avoiding the lock-in of carbon-intensive sectors, and ensuring sufficient funding for green measures.
• There is a risk that recovery plans will support outdated, carbon-intensive industries such as aviation and the auto industry, or lead to the postponement of Green Deal reforms and the withdrawal of regulations like the ban on single-use plastics.
• The authors highlight a significant funding gap for sustainability: the European Commission identified an annual gap of €180 billion to meet 2030 climate and energy targets, while the European Investment Bank notes a yearly investment gap of €270 billion for transport, energy, and resource management infrastructure.
• To ensure the adequacy of recovery efforts, the authors propose establishing an independent green recovery scrutiny board or expanding the mandate of the EU's court of auditors to provide public, real-time assessments of EU and member state plans.

APA

Charveriat, C., Bausch, C., Treyer, S., Nilsson, M., & Müller, A. (2020). Five sustainability tests for Europe’s recovery plans. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/features/five-sustainability-tests-for-europes-recovery-plans/

Chicago

Charveriat, Céline, Camilla Bausch, Sébastien Treyer, Måns Nilsson, and Alexander Müller. Five sustainability tests for Europe’s recovery plans. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2020. https://www.sei.org/features/five-sustainability-tests-for-europes-recovery-plans/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Charveriat |first1=Céline |last2=Bausch |first2=Camilla |last3=Treyer |first3=Sébastien |last4=Nilsson |first4=Måns |last5=Müller |first5=Alexander |title=Five sustainability tests for Europe’s recovery plans |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=23 April 2020 |url=https://www.sei.org/features/five-sustainability-tests-for-europes-recovery-plans/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{charveriat2020five, author = {Charveriat, Céline and Bausch, Camilla and Treyer, Sébastien and Nilsson, Måns and Müller, Alexander}, title = {{Five sustainability tests for Europe’s recovery plans}}, publisher = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://www.sei.org/features/five-sustainability-tests-for-europes-recovery-plans/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }