The coronavirus pandemic has had devastating consequences for lives and livelihoods around the world, while also dramatically cutting CO2 emissions. In many countries, governments are now looking towards recovery as the pandemic’s first wave slowly recedes, with plans for economic stimulus worth trillions of dollars. Yet as economies pick up pace, emissions are beginning to rebound. And huge stimulus plans will have consequences for CO2 emissions, even if they do not explicitly target climate change.
As a result, voices from the International Energy Agency (IEA) through to the UK’s prime minister and leading economists are among those that have called for a “green recovery” that “builds back better”, by cutting CO2 emissions as well as boosting the economy. But what is actually being proposed?
Using an interactive grid, Carbon Brief is tracking the measures proposed, agreed, and implemented by major economies around the world. The tracker will be updated over time and will include stimulus measures that have a direct bearing on climate change or energy.