Global Green New Deal

Green Economy Initiative

Global Green New Deal

In response to the financial and economic crisis, UNEP has called for a “Global Green New Deal” for reviving the global economy and boosting employment, while simultaneously accelerating the fight against climate change, environmental degradation and poverty. UNEP is recommending that a significant portion of the estimated US$3 trillion in pledged economic stimulus packages be invested in five critical areas:

Raising the energy efficiency of old and new buildings;
Transitioning to renewable energies including wind, solar, geothermal and biomass;
Increasing reliance on sustainable transport including hybrid vehicles, high speed rail and bus rapid transit systems;
Bolstering the planet's ecological infrastructure, including freshwaters, forests, soils and coral reefs;
Supporting sustainable agriculture, including organic production.

UNEP’s Global Green New Deal also calls for a range of specific measures aimed at assisting poorer countries in reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and greening their economies. These include an expansion of microcredit schemes for clean energy, reform of subsidies from fossil fuels to fisheries, and the greening of overseas development aid.

A Policy Brief outlining these recommendations was prepared in consultation with over 20 UN agencies and intergovernmental organizations and shared with members of the G20 (“London Summit”) meeting in April 2009. UNEP followed-up on this initial brief with a Global Green New Deal update that was launched during with the G20 (“Pittsburgh Summit”) in September 2009. The update summarizes the current amount of green investments included in national financial stimulus packages for a selected group of countries, the rate of green investment disbursement, and progress in domestic policy reforms required to embed these investments in a long-term transition to a green economy.

The update concludes that much more needs to be done and urges G20 governments to invest US$750 billion of the US$2.5 trillion stimulus package (about 1 per cent of global GDP) towards building a green economy – one that reduces carbon dependency, addresses poverty, generates good quality and decent jobs, maintains and restores our natural ecosystems, and moves towards sustainable consumption.

Press Releases

One Year On - Many Countries Factoring Environmental Investments into Economic Stimulus Packages, Thursday 24 September 2009

A Global Green New Deal update by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), launched as G20 nations meet in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, shows that over a third of China's recovery spending is being focused on areas ranging from railways and water infrastructure to energy efficiency and renewables like wind and solar.


	Delivering Tomorrow's Economy and Job Market Today, Wednesday 18 March 2009 Investing one per cent of global GDP, or around $750 billion, into five key sectors could be the key to a Global Green New Deal.


	Realizing a "Green New Deal", Monday 16 February 2009 One third of the around $2.5 trillion-worth of planned stimulus packages should be invested on 'greening' the world economy. This would assist in powering the global economy out of recession and onto a Green, 21st century path a new report released today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says.


	Davos: A Green New Deal for a Post-Crisis World, Thursday 29 January 2009 Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), is urging Davos delegates to embrace a transition to a low carbon Green Economy.