Recovery programmes “great opportunity” to invest in climate action – opinion

The coronavirus crisis recovery programmes being worked out all over the world present a “great opportunity” to push climate action, the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung's Uwe Westdörp writes  in an opinion piece. “When if not now do we want to seize the opportunity to invest massively in climate protection?” The funds should be put in renewables, energy efficiency, building insulation and e-mobility for instance, he argues.
For Germany, the recovery presents an opportunity to make its economy future proof and thus revamp the infamous slogan “Made in Germany”, writes Bernhard Pötter in tageszeitung (taz). “After a successful stimulus programme, it could be ‘Made in Germany. For the Future. With a gentle nudge, your Federal Government’,” Pötter adds.
The biggest difficulty now is to contain the coronavirus crisis without aggravating the climate crisis, writes Marina Kormbaki in an opinion piece for Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). “But this challenge also presents an opportunity if the heads of state and economic leaders consider both crises jointly.” This could for example mean the introduction of a buyer's premium only for cars with alternative drives, Kormbaki writes.

As the coronavirus crisis drives many governments across the globe to introduce emergency plans to cushion the immediate economic effects, there are growing calls to align any mid and long-term stimulus efforts with climate targets. Germany's top politicians and many large companies have thrown their weight behind such a green stimulus, which ministers from about 30 countries are debating at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue on 27-28 April.