What is a green and just recovery anyway?
The federal and provincial governments are already putting billions into supporting people through COVID-19, and will put billions more into the economy to help get us out of the resulting deep recession.
A green and just recovery would invest those funds in areas that provide good jobs while protecting and respecting the environment, and would be based on principles such as these that speak to the inequities and gaps we've been living with, made more evident through the pandemic crisis.
It means that while the economy recovers, we transition to a new way of life that commits to leaving no one behind.
For a start, a green and just recovery could include:
- investments in health care and those who provide care,
- a massive retrofit program to make Canada's buildings more energy efficient,
- major expansion of public transit to ease congestion and reduce transportation emissions,
- made-in-Canada electric buses, vans, and buses,
- renewable energy investments, including solar panels on millions of roofs,
- expansion of local farms for food security,
- a Conservation Corps to plant billions of trees and conduct natural restoration,
- training and transition programs for workers,
and much more.
There is a growing body of research, writing and opinion on what a green and just recovery and transition can and should look like. Here's a sample:
Green stimulus offers Canada a way forward for escaping the next recession, by Sustainable Prosperity
Green Stimulus: Principles and recommendations for a 2020 economic stimulus package, by Pembina Institute
We're going to need a Marshall Plan to rebuild after Covid-19, by Jim Stanford in Policy Options magazine
On the path to recovery: how to "lock in" climate solutions, by Brian Purcell, Toronto Atmospheric Fund
How EV production can help refuel Canada's post-pandemic economy, by Carolyn Kim and Ben Sharpe in Corporate Knights magazine