The global spread of the coronavirus has caused layoff after layoff in the United States, forcing over 40 million Americans to file for unemployment in less than three months. How can America put its citizens back to work while fighting climate change?
What to know
- FDR kickstarted the economy in the Great Depression by creating the Civilian Conservation Corps to restore America’s infrastructure while employing jobless workers – similar programs could help unemployed workers during COVID-19
- Other countries are already doing it – Pakistan has employed 63,000 people in its 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme
- Governments control more than 70% of energy investments globally, so they can steer recovery in a positive direction for the climate and their people
- With an additional $15 trillion in a global COVID-19 recovery plan, we can increase our global GDP by 2.4% and add tens of millions of jobs in energy and infrastructure
Bottom line
- Implementing a green stimulus is necessary to effectively combat climate change as we emerge from the grips of COVID-19
- Many communities disproportionately affected by the coronavirus are also disproportionately affected by climate change, so we must target a dualistic recovery
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