A new impetus for global climate action?

Abstract

The EU adopted ambitious climate targets that will be implemented through its Green Deal policy. At the 2020 UN General Assembly, China declared its intention to become carbon neutral by 2060. Since then, similar ambitious targets were adopted by Korea, Japan, South Africa as well as by the newly elected President of the US, Joe Biden, who has also decided to return his country to the Paris Agreement. This opens up encouraging perspectives for the next round of climate negotiations, COP26, to be organised in the UK in November 2021. One of the major questions on the table will be how to turn around economies after COVID-19 and seize the multiple opportunities created by new sustainable technologies. Massive new investment is required and interest rates are historically low, but still many issues need to be addressed. Are major economies ‘greening’ their post-COVID-19 recovery policies? Are they moving away from fossils fuels and old technologies? What about regions and workers who find themselves without a place in the low-carbon future? Are sustainable finance discussions delivering? How can possible short-term impacts on international trade patterns be addressed?