The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a collapse of economic activity across the globe and an almost unprecedented level of job loss. Once the health crisis passes, governments and the private sector will need to focus their attention on stimulus and recovery plans that will create and retain jobs.

Job creation and infrastructure modernization go hand-in-glove. As governments develop stimulus plans that include massive spending on infrastructure projects, the EE Global Alliance is working with its partners to encourage global leaders to fully leverage energy efficiency – the best solution for creating jobs while remaining focused on achieving our climate goals. Energy efficiency is critical not only for our economic revival, but also to ensure a more efficient, low-carbon, and resilient global economy.

This Resource Hub, curated by the #EEGlobal Alliance, provides a continually updated set of resources, analysis, and insights on the central role of energy efficiency in rebuilding the global economy.

 

Webinars 

• Global Energy Efficiency Indicator Study Release, Presented by JCI and the EE Global Alliance, April 29, 10 AM EDT: This webinar will focus on the results of JCI’s 2019 Global Energy Efficiency Indicator survey, which tracks current and planned investments, key drivers, and organizational barriers to improving energy efficiency in facilities.  The COVID-19 crisis provides the specific context for this webinar: With reference to historical EE Indicator Survey data, Clay Nesler will explore what the surveys revealed about companies’ priorities during the economic recovery from the 2009 recession; in the context of the 2019 data, he will then discuss what these historical lessons can teach us about what may come next. View a recording here.
• Energy Efficiency and Economic Recovery: Lessons from the Great Recession in the E.U. and U.S., June 29, 10 AM EDT: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the European Economic Recovery Plan were two massive stimulus packages passed in 2009 to counter the effects of the economic slowdown. In this webinar, experts from both continents will reflect on the role of energy efficiency in these packages, the legacy of the stimuli on efficiency and our energy systems today, and lessons learned for governments and the private sector around the world as we plan for stimulus and recovery investments. Register here.

 

What We’re Reading 

• Public transport can bounce back from COVID-19 with new and green technology, says ABD, Asian Development Bank, August 3
• The world’s botched COVID-19 recovery, in charts, Quartz, July 15
• Recommendations of the Global Commission for Urgent Action on Energy Efficiency, IEA, June 22
• You can’t fight pandemics without power – electric power, Brookings, June 5
• France makes EVs central to an $8.8 billion plan to rescue its auto recovery, Electrek, May 26
• Tracking the carbon emissions from the world’s coronavirus stimulus, Axios, May 7.
• Latin America needs a green stimulus. Will it come from China?, Dialogo Chino, May 6.
• Electric cars take the spotlight in China’s post-coronavirus stimulus plans, CNBC, May 3.
• Safer, more sustainable transport in a post-COVID-19 world, World Resources Institute, April 23. “Public transport can create and maintain jobs more quickly than other transportation investments. A study of the effects of the last large economic stimulus in the United States, after the Great Recession, found that public transport investments generated 31% more jobs per dollar than new construction of roads and bridges….”
• The time is now to stand with clean energy workers, Natural Resources Defense Council, April 23
• 5 lessons from 2008 in how to rebuild for a greener future, World Economic Forum, April 22. “One way forward is for policymakers to focus on projects that are relatively simple to implement but where access to financing is constrained. Energy efficiency projects in the residential and municipal sectors are a good example….” 
• What the 2008 financial crisis can teach us about designing stimulus packages today, IEA, April 19. “From an economic standpoint, the extra spending on clean energy following the 2008 crisis contributed positively to the broader recovery, especially through efficiency programs, which bolstered the badly hit construction sector…..”
• South Korea embraces EU-style Green Deal for COVID-19 recovery, Forbes, April 16
• Clean energy employment: initial impacts from COVID-19 economic crisis, E2, April 15
• Planning for the economic recovery from COVID-19: A sustainability checklist for policymakers, World Bank, April 14
• How today’s economic recovery policies can bake-in tomorrow’s energy efficient buildings, Efficiency Canada, April 13
• Use lessons of COVID-19 to build a green recovery, say EU Ministers, Forbes, April 13
• Energy efficiency can boost economies quickly, with long-lasting benefits, IEA, April 8
• Energy efficiency and economic stimulus, IEA, April 8
• Open letter to EU leaders: Delivering the European Green New Deal for a sustainable and efficient recovery of our economy, European Alliance to Save Energy, April 6
• An open letter from Canada’s clean energy sector, Clean Energy Canada, April 3
• Energy efficiency’s role in Canada’s economic recovery, Efficiency Canada, March 27. “In Canada, a study on the macroeconomic impacts of energy efficiency shows 16-30 jobs created per $1 million invested taking into account all of these effects….” 
• Put clean energy at the heart of stimulus plans to counter the coronavirus crisis, IEA, March 14
• Responding to coronavirus: low-carbon investments can help economies recover, World Resources Institute, March 12. “As countries look to give their economies a much-needed jolt in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, governments and companies considering stimulus packages essentially have two choices: They can lock in decades of polluting, inefficient, high-carbon and unsustainable development, or they can use this as an opportunity to accelerate the inevitable shift to low-carbon and increasingly affordable energy and transport systems that will bring long-term economic benefits…..”