Cross-party report urges green recovery from Covid

London, 17 Feb 2021

Research and campaign group Positive Money welcomes a new report from MPs on the Conservative-led Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) which concludes that Covid-19 is a symptom of environmental breakdown and sets out how the government can enable a green economic recovery from the crisis.

Titled ‘Growing back better: putting nature and net zero at the heart of the economic recovery’, the report was a result of the EAC’s ‘Greening the post-Covid recovery’ inquiry, for which Positive Money presented oral evidence.

Among the recommendations, the report calls for the government to clarify the Bank of England’s mandate to include climate and nature objectives, to take steps to reduce the carbon intensity of financial markets, as well as a range of fiscal and financial incentives for a green recovery.

The report comes as the Chancellor is expected to make key changes to the Bank of England’s mandate alongside the March Budget, which will enable it to take more action on climate change.

Simon Youel, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Positive Money, said:

“For all the talk of ‘build back better’, the government’s response to Covid has so far bailed out an environmentally destructive and unequal ‘business as usual’, which drove us towards this crisis in the first place.

“The Environmental Audit Committee’s report puts further pressure on the government and the Bank of England to get their act together and take concrete steps to green the economy ahead of this year’s crucial COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

“The government has a huge opportunity to kickstart a fair and green recovery in the March Budget. Alongside wide scale public investment in green jobs, the Chancellor needs to make sure his changes to the Bank of England’s mandate are as strong as possible, to allow our central bank to do everything necessary to shift billions of pounds away from fossil fuels and towards green alternatives ahead of COP26.”

Notes

• In January, the Conservative MP and Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Philip Dunne, wrote to the Bank of England calling for it to align its bond purchases with 1.5C ahead of COP26: https://positivemoney.org/2021/01/environmental-audit-committee-blasts-bank-of-england-for-high-carbon-stimulus/

• The chancellor is expected to make changes to the Bank of England’s mandate in his March Budget: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chancellor-rishi-sunak-to-strengthen-bank-of-englands-green-remit-amid-oil-bonds-outcry-3t3qkcf2p

• A letter from 125 experts (including Nouriel Roubini, Mariana Mazzucato and Willem Buiter) outlined what the Bank of England should be doing to support the government’s climate targets, 16 November 2020: https://positivemoney.org/2020/11/sunaks-green-finance-plans-come-under-fire-from-experts-press-release/ [see Guardian coverage here: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/16/bank-of-england-needs-more-powers-to-decarbonise-economy-say-experts]

• Positive Money campaigns for a money and banking system which supports a fair, democratic and sustainable economy. Set up in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Positive Money is a not-for-profit company funded by charitable trusts and foundations, as well as small donations from its network of over 65,000 supporters. https://positivemoney.org/

• For more information or to arrange a briefing/interview with a spokesperson please contact press@positivemoney.org.uk or Anna Pick on 07948802104