Designing the COVID-19 Recovery for a Safer and More Resilient World

The document argues that the massive fiscal stimulus required for COVID-19 recovery presents a unique opportunity to transition to a low-carbon economy. It suggests that climate-aligned investments offer higher returns than traditional spending, citing benefit-cost ratios for adaptation between 2:1 and 10:1. The author proposes seven action areas: managing corporate bailouts with emissions targets, investing in climate-smart infrastructure (such as renewable energy and nature-based solutions), promoting regulatory reform, reforming tax and subsidy policies (including cutting fossil fuel subsidies), integrating climate risks into financial regulations, enhancing the role of development finance institutions, and sponsoring R&D for new technologies. The text emphasizes that green investments can create more jobs than fossil fuel investments, noting that in the US, $1 million spent on renewable energy creates 7.5 FTE jobs compared to 2.7 in fossil fuels.

• Climate adaptation investments provide significant economic returns, with benefit-cost ratios ranging from 2:1 to more than 10:1.
• Green energy investments generate more employment than fossil fuel investments; in the United States, $1 million invested in renewable energy creates 7.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs and energy efficiency creates 7.7 FTE jobs, compared to 2.7 FTE jobs for fossil fuels.
• Nature-based solutions (NBS) are highly effective for job creation, producing an estimated 39.7 FTE jobs per 1 million USD invested, which is over ten times the rate of fossil fuel investments.
• Corporate bailouts should avoid supporting outdated, pollution-intensive industries and instead use efficiency and emissions targets to foster competitive, low-carbon business models, similar to the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's fuel efficiency requirements.
• The current low price of oil provides a strategic window for governments to reform or cut fossil fuel subsidies with minimal price increases for consumers.
• South Korea demonstrated the success of green stimulus after the 2008 financial crisis by allocating approximately 80% of its stimulus spending to green investments, resulting in one of the highest growth rates in the OECD by late 2009.

APA

World Resources Institute (2020). Designing the COVID-19 Recovery for a Safer and More Resilient World. https://www.wri.org/insights/designing-covid-19-recovery-safer-and-more-resilient-world

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Designing the COVID-19 Recovery for a Safer and More Resilient World. 2020. https://www.wri.org/insights/designing-covid-19-recovery-safer-and-more-resilient-world.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Designing the COVID-19 Recovery for a Safer and More Resilient World |date=14 May 2020 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/designing-covid-19-recovery-safer-and-more-resilient-world |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2020designing, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Designing the COVID-19 Recovery for a Safer and More Resilient World}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2020}, month = may, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/designing-covid-19-recovery-safer-and-more-resilient-world}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }