The pandemic is raising awareness of the links between our own health and the health of ecosystems. It is demonstrating the need for sustainable supply chains and consumption patterns that do not exceed planetary boundaries. In the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the European Commission is discussing the linkages between the conservation of biodiversity and a post Covid-19 economic recovery
This report details recommendations for a stimulus package in response to COVID-19 that boosts economic growth and moves the economy towards climate neutrality.
To slow the spread of COVID-19, European governments have adopted stringent containment measures. These have led to a severe recession and policymakers in European Union countries are providing generous support to help companies cope with the immediate consequences. The basic approach has been to provide generous and indiscriminate emergency support to help cash-strapped firms meet their immediate liquidity needs. But as lockdown measures continue and the recession gets deeper, a more comprehensive strategy for the future needs to be designed.
The post-corona recovery can both put the EU’s decarbonisation progress back on track – after low-carbon investments will inevitably take a hit – and support economic recovery through the EU’s Green Deal proposals.
This brief provides an overview of existing economic instruments and other measures that can be used to help governments reduce waste and incentivise reuse and recycling in line with the waste hierarchy.