UNEP report: countries factoring environmental investments into economic stimulus packages

Pittsburgh/Nairobi - The Asian economies of China and the Republic of Korea are emerging as global leaders in their commitments to invest significant slices of their stimulus packages in environmental, 'green new deal' projects.

A Global Green New Deal update by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), launched as G20 nations meet in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, shows that over a third of China's recovery spending is being focused on areas ranging from railways and water infrastructure to energy efficiency and renewables like wind and solar.

The Republic of Korea is going even further in terms of setting the stage towards a transition to a low carbon, resource efficient Green Economy. Close to 80 per cent of its stimulus package or around $31 billion is aimed at promoting energy efficient buildings and water and waste management-but also investments in areas such as renewable energy, low emission vehicles and railways.

Other countries that have in part seized the economic crisis as an opportunity for a different development path include Australia, the United States, Japan, Germany, South Africa and France.

Yet UNEP and economists are warning that major pitfalls remain in terms of the overall size of the green component of the global stimulus package. This currently falls short of the $750 billion or one per cent of global GDP that is recommended for reducing carbon dependency and seeding the process of transition.

Source: IWR Online, 24 Sep 2009