LESSONS LEARNED ON GREEN STIMULUS: CASE STUDIES FROM THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

The paper evaluates the 2008–09 green stimulus, finding that while it supported GDP and job creation in economies like the US, China, South Korea, and the EU, it failed to create a long-term low-carbon trajectory due to a lack of structural reforms and the persistence of fossil fuel subsidies.

• Approximately US$520 billion, or 16 percent of total global fiscal stimulus in 2008–09, was allocated to green measures under a broad definition. The vast majority of this spending was concentrated in five economies: China, the United States, South Korea, Japan, and the European Union.
• Green stimulus spending generally contributed positively to economic recovery and employment. In the US, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) supported 900,000 job-years in clean energy from 2009 to 2015. In China, green investments boosted GDP by 4.2% above the baseline in 2009 and 3.6% in 2010. In the EU, each $1 of green investment increased GDP by $0.60 to $1.10 nationally and up to $1.50 at the European level.
• Green investments often demonstrated higher employment multipliers than fossil fuel investments. For example, US stimulus spending on public transit generated 70 percent more jobs than equivalent spending on highways, and investing $1 million in building efficiency, solar PV, or clean urban transport creates more than twice as many gross jobs as $1 million in coal or gas power.
• Despite green stimulus, global CO2 emissions rebounded strongly after the initial economic contraction. This is attributed to the relatively small scale of green spending compared to total stimulus, the time lag for investments to impact emissions, and a lack of structural reforms. Notably, between 2009 and 2013, the world spent 15 times more on fossil fuel subsidies than on disbursed clean energy stimulus.
• Central bank responses, specifically quantitative easing (QE) programs in the US, UK, and EU, did not target green sectors and were criticized for maintaining the high-carbon status quo by allocating purchases based on market makeup or targeting mortgage markets.
• Implementation speed and transparency varied significantly by country. While South Korea disbursed funds rapidly, the US spent 89 percent of its allocated green stimulus, and Australia spent only 34 percent. Some projects were less 'green' than claimed, such as China's rail infrastructure that supported coal transport and South Korea's river restoration project that built new dams.
• Car-scrapping schemes implemented by eight of the top ten car-producing countries were largely ineffective as green stimulus, providing only modest economic boosts and failing to significantly reduce emissions.
• Multilateral development banks (MDBs) increased lending during the crisis, but only the European Investment Bank (EIB) made climate change a central focus of its strategy. Other institutions, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), continued to provide significant finance for oil, gas, and energy-related products.

APA

JAEGER, J., WESTPHAL, M. I., & PARK, C. (2020). LESSONS LEARNED ON GREEN STIMULUS: CASE STUDIES FROM THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/lessons-learned-on-green-stimulus-case-studies-from-the-global-financial-crisis.pdf?5gDebandVTpi8eM8XtXwLE7jjZem2DPI

Chicago

JAEGER, JOEL, MICHAEL I. WESTPHAL, and COREY PARK. LESSONS LEARNED ON GREEN STIMULUS: CASE STUDIES FROM THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS. World Resources Institute, 2020. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/lessons-learned-on-green-stimulus-case-studies-from-the-global-financial-crisis.pdf?5gDebandVTpi8eM8XtXwLE7jjZem2DPI.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=JAEGER |first1=JOEL |last2=WESTPHAL |first2=MICHAEL I. |last3=PARK |first3=COREY |title=LESSONS LEARNED ON GREEN STIMULUS: CASE STUDIES FROM THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=November 2020 |url=https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/lessons-learned-on-green-stimulus-case-studies-from-the-global-financial-crisis.pdf?5gDebandVTpi8eM8XtXwLE7jjZem2DPI |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jaeger2020lessons, author = {JAEGER, JOEL and WESTPHAL, MICHAEL I. and PARK, COREY}, title = {{LESSONS LEARNED ON GREEN STIMULUS: CASE STUDIES FROM THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/lessons-learned-on-green-stimulus-case-studies-from-the-global-financial-crisis.pdf?5gDebandVTpi8eM8XtXwLE7jjZem2DPI}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }