“It’s time to wake up. To take notice. To raise our voices. It’s time to build back better for People and Planet” – against the backdrop of the current COVID19-induced crisis, the motto of this year’s UN #WorldEnvironmentDay couldn’t have been chosen better!
Indeed, while the European Union’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan does have some green strings attached, the battle is waging on just how much of the bloc’s Green Deal will be realised through this ‘once-in-a-generation’ moment of government spending.
Find here The Progressive Post’s latest special Dossier: a collection of articles on How to Finance the Green New Deal. You will also find information on the upcoming FEPS annual flagship event – Call to Europe – which this year focusses on Climate and Gender Justice, as well as on the latest FEPS Talks podcast.
The EU’s “do no harm” is meant to exclude fossil fuels and nuclear power solution – but will it? Can the EU’s recovery plan also succeed in advancing green goals?– that is the question the LSE’s Iain Begg examines in his contribution. State investment in environmental projects could indeed be an effective way of boosting demand. However, there are a few details – like timing, what precisely the money is targeted at which benefits for the economy. The political battle is open – but a ” ‘double dividend’ of contributing to resolving the economic crisis while also advancing green goals” is fully possible.
Nancy Yuk and Michael Vincent from Greentervention warn that the “EU cannot afford to forget what Ursula von der Leyen called the EU’s “man on the moon” moment” in their contribution We can’t return to normal because the past normal was precisely the problem. They call for huge public expenditure now, as “it will have a high social and ecological payoff” In addition, they remind of France’s 2019 yellow vests movement: “we cannot rely on market mechanisms alone!“. Policies strengthening social and political cohesion are at least equally important”.
Nuno Almeida Eça from the European Parliament puts the question in a wider context: in his A new generation pact for a sustainable and resilient European economy, he argues that Green recovery is more than just making changes in technologies and production processes. The current pandemic has the potential to push the EU towards a leap forward, not only to a more sustainable future, but also in further integration. Bold leadership and bravery is needed now – but if it succeeds, it “would not only be a breakthrough in the bloc’s integration, but for the entire planet“.
How to direct funds towards projects that do provide public value, but do not generate much revenue streams? That is what Ludovic Suttor-Sorel from Finance Watch examines in his contribution Money for nature: bridging the green funding gap. Private funds can be steered to some of those projects, but it is “at best a partial solution,” only appliable if there is a source of revenue somewhere in the project. “Public finance will be needed at a scale that calls for national as well as EU budgets to invest directly and alongside private capital“. No question this will be about large sums – but “the response to this global pandemic shows what can be done when there is a will to tackle a crisis.”
Find all progressive post on Turning the EU's climate ambition into reality
Three solutions for a European climate and jobs pact
This Call is launched by over 700 leading youth climate activists, climate scientists, unionists, economists, environmentalists, entrepreneurs and politicians from all 27 members States, with support from over 1 million citizens (and counting).
As politicians, we need to treat societal challenges in a holistic way. Therefore, we need to search synergies between COVID-19 recovery and the Green Deal instead of playing them off against each other.
For projects which do provide public value, but which are not financially bankable, public finance must be unlocked.
XThis website uses cookies. Some cookies are necessary for the proper functioning of the website and cannot be refused if you wish to visit the website.
Other cookies are used for Advertisement and Analytics (Sharing on social networks, video playing, analysis and statistics, personalized advertising ...) You can refuse them if you want to. REJECTACCEPTCookie settings
Manage consent
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
csrftoken
past
This cookie is associated with Django web development platform for python. Used to help protect the website against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks
JSESSIONID
session
The JSESSIONID cookie is used by New Relic to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application.
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__cf_bm
30 minutes
This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
S
1 hour
Used by Yahoo to provide ads, content or analytics.
sp_landing
1 day
The sp_landing is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content.
sp_t
1 year
The sp_t cookie is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
iutk
session
This cookie is used by Issuu analytic system to gather information regarding visitor activity on Issuu products.
s_vi
2 years
An Adobe Analytics cookie that uses a unique visitor ID time/date stamp to identify a unique vistor to the website.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
NID
6 months
NID cookie, set by Google, is used for advertising purposes; to limit the number of times the user sees an ad, to mute unwanted ads, and to measure the effectiveness of ads.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
5 months 27 days
A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSC
session
YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
