Many economies are now facing their worst downturn in more than a generation. Administrations across the world have agreed on Covid-19 financial rescue packages, designed to keep economies afloat in the short-term, including a stimulus package of more than $2 trillion from the federal government in the US and many hundreds of billions more from across the Eurozone and G20. While some of the bailout money has gone directly to people who’ve lost jobs and income because of the pandemic, critics have warned that much of it is simply a transfer of wealth from the public purse to the corporate world, including the world’s worst polluters. Capitalism loves disaster.
These short-term fixes to our economic woes could have long-term impacts on our ability to combat climate change. Government economic recovery plans will either set us on a pathway to limit the warming of the Earth to below 1.5°C, or smash through an already low carbon ceiling from which there is no return.
