Committees

Greening the post-Covid recovery

Inquiry

In May the Committee held a session on the environmental implications of the Covid-19 crisis. Witnesses stressed how critical it would be to align the post-crisis recovery stimulus with the UK’s goals on climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development – given the short window of opportunity remaining to keep global temperature rises to a manageable level. The Committee has since agreed to launch an inquiry looking at how to align any post-pandemic economic stimulus package with the UK’s climate and environment goals.

Economic impact and policy response

The coronavirus pandemic has triggered a global macroeconomic shock unprecedented in peacetime. UK Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 10.4% in the three months from February to April – with monthly output collapsing by 20.4% in April after the lockdown was introduced. As the UK emerges from the initial public health crisis, the economic challenges may intensify as the Government tapers its employee and business support packages.

In Oct 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that time is running out to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5°C. In this context, Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010-2016, explained to the Committee how critical it is that climate change mitigation is at the heart of the post-COVID recovery:

"Those rescue packages, US$10 trillion to US$20 trillion, will not only be defined but very likely allotted over the next 18 months. Because of the scale, they will determine the characteristics of national economies and of the global economy for several decades. It is exactly this decade, between 2020 and 2030, where climate science has been lucidly clear that we need to halve our emissions, reduce to 50% the emissions that we have right now."

The Committee also heard from Professor Cameron Hepburn, Director of the Economics of Sustainability Programme at the Oxford Martin School, about the potential for green investment to boost the economy, providing more jobs; delivering higher short-term returns per pound spent by Government, and leading to increased long-term cost savings.

Global leadership

In 2021 the UK will be hosting COP26 and will also hold the G7 Presidency. This provides a platform for the UK to take an international leadership role and galvanise a green and climate-friendly global response to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.

The Committee’s inquiry will consider how the post-pandemic recovery can be aligned with the UK’s climate and environment goals and the role that the UK can play in driving a green recovery internationally.

For further details read the inquiry's Terms of Reference.

Reports, special reports and government responses

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Third Report - Growing back better: putting nature and net zero at the heart of the economic recovery
Inquiry Greening the post-Covid recovery
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Response to this report
Second Special Report - Growing back better: putting nature and net zero at the heart of the economic recovery: Government and Bank of England Responses to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2019-21
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Second Special Report - Growing back better: putting nature and net zero at the heart of the economic recovery: Government and Bank of England Responses to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2019-21
Inquiry Greening the post-Covid recovery
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Correspondence

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Letter from the Bank of England to the Chair on addressing the financial risks of climate change, dated 8 February 2021
Inquiry Greening the post-Covid recovery
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Chair to the Governor of the Bank of England, concerning the post-Covid recovery, dated 22 January 2021
Inquiry Greening the post-Covid recovery
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Chief Nursing Officer for England to Chair regarding single-use plastics and PPE, dated 18 September 2020
Inquiry Greening the post-Covid recovery
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Correspondence

Oral evidence transcripts

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3 December 2020
Inquiry Greening the post-Covid recovery
Witnesses OVO Energy, and The Zero Carbon Campaign, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), and Impact Investing Institute
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Oral Evidence
3 December 2020
Inquiry Greening the post-Covid recovery
Witnesses Royal Institute of British Architects, University of the West of England, Institution of Civil Engineers, and Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), University College London (UCL)
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Oral Evidence
24 September 2020
Inquiry Greening the post-Covid recovery
Witnesses Fran Boait (Executive Director at Positive Money), and Maria-Krystyna Duval (Head of Climate at ClientEarth)
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Written evidence

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Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (COV0112)
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Hannes Kindbom, and Rosalind McDermott (COV0008)
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AMP Clean Energy (COV0073)
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Other publications

No other publications published.

Contact us

  • Email: eacom@parliament.uk
  • Phone: 020 7219 8890 (general enquiries) | 020 7219 1034 (media enquiries)