Green economy, let's put public money here. This time, there are no banks to bail out.

There's a unique opportunity, linked to all the incentives put in place, to move toward a more sustainable economy. And public opinion is in favor, as polls show.

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GREEN CHANGE CORONAVIRUS

Now or neverStimulus measures, bailouts, subsidies, loans at very low interest rates and non-repayable grants: the pandemic has put on the table, in all countries of the world, an unprecedented amount of public moneyMoney with which two things can be done: save the strongest and then put the economy back on the same track where it had derailed (as happened after the Great Crisis of 2008) or not waste the unique and unrepeatable opportunity to give a green boost to the global economy, with the compass of the 17 goals enshrined in the UN 2030 AgendaPoliticians should show courage, knowing they have public opinion on their side. In a recent Ipsos survey, conducted in 14 countries around the world, 65 percent of the population would like climate change to be a priority in economic recovery plans.

CORONAVIRUS GREEN ECONOMY

Meanwhile, we have seen, due to the quarantine, how rapidly pollution can collapse. In just one month, March, due to the collapse of air traffic, the carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to the circulation of six million cars In the streets of the world, for a whole year. The most radical and effective countermeasure to stop global warming ever seen. And not the only one. The coronavirus has everywhere reduced greenhouse gas emissions and pollution factors, with comforting forecasts if we consider that in the United States alone a fall of 7,5 percent is estimated for 2020. According to Marshall Burke, head of the Department of Earth Sciences at Stanford University, in the 2 critical months of the pandemic, in China, thanks to the decrease in pollution 77 thousand people were saved: 73 adults over 70 and 4 children.

So: the pandemic has made us understand, if it were still necessary, that global warming depends on human actions and not by the whims of nature, and we have realised that a paradigm shift is possible, and indeed necessary: ​​the coronavirus has confirmed that the old development model no longer holds up, and we need to move quickly towards agreen economy.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus, let's not waste our quarantine dreams. Let's archive them in a dream bank, like Charlotte's blog.

Live lightly for online shopping 1

GREEN DEAL ECONOMY CORONAVIRUS

Yes, quickly. But how can this be done when the pandemic itself is forcing governments around the world to concentrate their efforts, first and foremost the barrages of public money fired by the financial bazookas that have been installed everywhere, for the economic recoveryHow can we prevent the coronavirus from eclipsing all the environmental concerns that, in 2019, had become central to world public opinion, also through the icon of Greta Thunberg?

The answer to these questions is only one: you must not waste the opportunity, and indeed seize all the economic stimulus measures to try to strengthen their green footprint. We must not give in to the temptation of two-step: first the money to everyone, like rain, and then, if necessary, we'll think about what to do for the global warmingOn the contrary, choices must be made now and immediately, taking advantage of this exceptional moment and the exceptional resources available.

GREEN ECONOMY TRANSFORMATION

Many countries are already moving in this direction, excluding from aid the companies that pollute the most or those which, in any form, fuel unsustainable forms of inequality. In Great Britain the subsidies to airlines are conditional on concrete interventions, by companies, to solve the climate emergency. France and Denmark have excluded from any coronavirus aid, companies based in tax havensEven in Europe. And even Poland has gone down this path. In Sweden, companies that self-proclaim themselves in crisis, yet then pay generous dividends to shareholders, must repay public aid.

And we come to theItalyAll stimulus measures can be calibrated to reward more sustainable economic choices by businesses and families. This is the core of a new industrial policy.Italian Agency for Sustainable Development (Asvis), chaired by Professor Enrico Giovannini, has made a very concrete proposal for recover the 19,3 billion euros that the State spends every year in incentives for businesses and families that damage the environmentWe're talking about public money spread across a jungle of 57 different forms of aid, among which those for agricultural fuel, diesel, and gasoline, and for diesel-fueled road haulage stand out. This money could be cut with a single snip of the scissors, to be used for a significant tax wedge cut (€14 billion), perhaps even higher for green-oriented businesses, and for public investments in healthcare facilities and home care (€5 billion).

mini wind farm incentives limits renewable energy decree government

GREEN CHANGE CORONAVIRUS

Again: Italy is ahead in the sector of renewable energy (Let's remember that 70 percent of investments in renewables come from governments, and therefore from public decisions), but here too, thanks to a targeted use of extraordinary resources to relaunch the economy, the paradigm shift can be significantly accelerated. This will undoubtedly have significant effects on employment and overall economic growth. According to a recent report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), accelerating investments in clean energy could lead to a $98 trillion increase in global growth by 2050, a fourfold increase in jobs (up to 42 million), and a 70 percent drop in emissions. Moreover, alongside the pandemic crisis, there is another factor that must not be wasted in changing the energy paradigm: the collapse of the oil priceBut be careful: oil crises were already evident in the 1970s, but then everything went back to normal. With the environmental consequences we know and have paid for in the years since.

Even the smallest funding can reward sustainable choices. We've seen what it means to have clean cities, thanks to waste reduction. Why not reward those who manage to ensure zero-waste management with funding, including non-repayable grants, available to small businesses, retailers, restaurateurs, and bars? Why not try to guide and select funding, prioritizing everything that falls within the scope of the green deal, proclaimed as an absolute priority by the new European Commission when it took office?

Obviously, we must not be naive.All the examples we have given can be traced back to a single title: political choicesAnd every choice divides the electorate in two: the satisfied and the dissatisfied. Shifting subsidy money from diesel trucks to non-polluting ones is certainly a choice that belongs to politicians, aware of their priorities and the horizon they want to give to their action. Nor can we think that everything will happen in a day; we need rapid gradualism, we need the realism that defines politics as "the art of the possible", but a clear long-term direction is also needed: towards a new sustainable economy.

CORONAVIRUS ECONOMY INVESTMENTS

To the opportunities we have and must not waste, in the wake of the coronavirus, strengthen the green economy system, and thus provide impetus for a new development model, two strengthening factors are added. The first is the role of the state. Never before has the state been so central, not only in printing money, but also in managing the entire emergency and laying the foundations for economic recovery. It is the state that pays (and thank goodness that's still possible...), and it is the state that dictates the agenda with its decisions: the supremacy of the market finally seems to be fading; let's hope this isn't just a temporary episode.

Second factor: the individual changesThey were already in place before the coronavirus pandemic, and translated into more sober lifestyles, more responsible consumptionPay attention to the little things in everyday life. Less waste. All this has become more evident during the weeks of quarantine, and a conviction has grown that will be crucial in addressing the problem of global warming: each of our actions can have consequences, positive or negative, for everyone. The important thing is to choose the right one.

SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENTS

Finally, don't be discouraged. Woe betide anyone who listens to the Cassandras of the moment.Despite this critical phase, it is essential to leverage the optimism of willpower. And to not miss any opportunity to hold everyone accountable. The Climate Law, proposed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, is blocked in the European Parliament. Let's work to unlock it, even with pressure from an Italian Parliament President, David Sassoli. Let's do fewer interviews and more concrete actions in this direction.

According to the Global Energy Monitor, the Chinese government authorized more coal-fired power plants in March than in all of 2019. If this were true, the European Union and the United States cannot stand by and watch this decision, which goes against the 2015 Paris Agreement. All the environmental events of 2020, starting with the United Nations conference in Glasgow where governments were supposed to present new emissions reduction targets, they have been postponed. It was a mistakeSomething could have been done, however, and UN meetings don't necessarily have to be held only if there are luxury hotels to occupy and top-class flights to take. But there's still time before the end of the year to remedy this incredible default by the most important supranational institution on the planet.

GREEN ECONOMY AND EUROPEAN FINANCING

The mistake not to be repeated, as we said at the beginning, is to concentrate the use of gigantic public resources just to maintain the status quo of the development model, in particular in favour of finance. Without instead aiming straight at investments for sustainability, which at the same time serve to take care of the Planet, to reduce inequalities, to spend on healthcare, schools, universities, research. To get closer to the targets set by theUN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Since 2008, the year the Great Crisis began, European central banks have done nothing but print money. To whose benefit? The banks themselves, which otherwise risked bankruptcy, ruining the entire empire of speculative finance. The balance sheet of the Eurosystem, which includes the ECB and the national central banks of the individual EU member states, has grown from €1.150 trillion in 2007 to €4.675 billion at the end of 2018. That is, from 10 to 40 percent of the GDP of the entire Eurozone.Now another wave of money is coming in response to the post-coronavirus crisis, and this time there are no banks to bail out. But we have the opportunity to change our future. 

POLLUTION: RISKS AND DANGERS

 
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