Interesting Stuff - Covid-19 Building Back Better
This page provides WCA members with a selection of topical resources linked to how Covid-19 has effected the world and how we can recover in such a way that we create a greener and fairer society. Building Back Better. please send us any by clicking on the button below.
Just 6% of UK public 'want a return to pre-pandemic economy'
Only 6% of the public want to return to the same type of economy as before the corona-virus pandemic, according to new polling, as trade unions, business groups and religious and civic leaders unite in calling for a fairer financial recovery.
Temporary reduction in daily global CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement
This study published in the journal Nature Climate Change is well worth a read. Prof Corinne Le Quéré of the University of East Anglia led the analysis and discusses the main findings in the video below.
Climate assembly - Interim Briefing – COVID-19, RECOVERY AND THE PATH TO NET ZERO
The Climate Assembly UK was commissioned by six cross-party Select Committees of the UK Parliament to explore how the UK should reach its legally-binding target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The assembly’s 108 participants are together ​representative of the UK population​ in terms of demographics and levels of concern about climate change.
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Their interim report is a fascinating read and give us a good indication of what decisions the British Public would make if only they were given all the correct facts. Wouldn't it be be great if our politicians were to take a few minutes to read this report.
Will COVID-19 fiscal recovery packages accelerate or retard progress on climate change?
This is an excellent paper produced by University of Oxford's Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. which explores how Covid 19 recovery packages will impact climate change. The study was carried out by Cameron Hepburn, Brian O’Callaghan, Nicholas Stern, Joseph Stiglitz, Dimitri Zenghelis
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The COVID-19 crisis is likely to have dramatic consequences for progress on climate change. Imminent fiscal recovery packages could entrench or partly displace the current fossil-fuel-intensive economic system. Here, we survey 231 central bank officials, finance ministry officials, and other economic experts from G20 countries on the relative performance of 25 major fiscal recovery archetypes across four dimensions: speed of implementation, economic multiplier, climate impact potential, and overall desirability. We identify five policies with high potential on both economic multiplier and climate impact metrics: clean physical infrastructure, building efficiency retrofits, investment in education and training, natural capital investment, and clean R&D. In lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) rural support spending is of particular value while clean R&D is less important. These recommendations are contextualised through analysis of the short-run impacts of COVID-19 on greenhouse gas curtailment and plausible medium-run shifts in the habits and behaviours of humans and institutions.
UK public 'supports green recovery from coronavirus crisis' - Guardian Article
People would be prepared to continue many of the lifestyle changes enforced by the coronavirus lockdown to help tackle the climate emergency, and the government would have broad support for a green economic recovery from the crisis, according to a report.
Working from home is a popular option, along with changes to how people travel, and the government should take the opportunity to rethink investment in infrastructure and support low-carbon industries, the report found.
Here is the link to this insightful article in The Guardian
An Interesting and useful open letter to the PM from The Committee on Climate Change.
As the Government considers its approach to rebuilding after the COVID-19 crisis The Committee on Climate Change write an open letter to Boris Johnson to advise on how climate policy can play a core part. It explains how actions towards net-zero emissions and to limit the damages from climate change will help rebuild the UK with a stronger economy and increased resilience. An Interesting read with useful recommendations.
New critical guide to degrowth argues that we can improve people’s lives simply by sharing what we already have more fairly and investing in public goods.
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Degrowth is often referred to as a ‘provocative slogan’, but it comprises a distinct line of thought that highlights the dynamic contradiction between productivist economic growth and Earth’s material limits.
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You can read the full article HERE
Want to know whether the world can avert catastrophe? Watch the recovery plans coming out now in Europe, China and the United States.
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As countries begin rolling out plans to restart their economies after the brutal shock inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic, the three biggest producers of planet-warming gases — the European Union, the United States and China — are writing scripts that push humanity in very different directions.
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Europe this week laid out a vision of a green future, with a proposed recovery package worth more than $800 billion that would transition away from fossil fuels and put people to work making old buildings energy efficient.