How to rebuild for a healthier economic future

Source: Josha MacNab · PEMBINA INSTITUTE · | April 8, 2020

The pandemic is forcing Canada’s hand on the tough conversation we keep putting off

Photo: Green Energy Futures

As frontline and essential workers put their lives at risk to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, and as financial relief measures are being enacted to help Canadian workers deal with the economic fallout, others are starting to do the necessary thinking about how we will rebuild Canada’s economy when we finally manage to flatten the curve. There’s no playbook to draw from, no textbook to refer to. No one knows with any degree of certainty when, and in what state, we will emerge.

But we do know this: It would be a mistake to solve one crisis by exacerbating another. As we think about how to rebuild our economy, we can’t choose to ignore the other planetary health problem we have to address. The threat of climate change only grows the longer we put off treating it. Already, Canada is warming at twice the global rate, and climate change is costing Canadians billions of dollars a year. 

Investment choices supported by strong climate policy

Undeniably, massive financial injections are needed to help Canadians weather the ongoing health and economic crisis. While financial relief for impacted workers, businesses and communities should be immediate and insulate them from shocks to services, investment choices we make to rebuild Canada’s economy as we emerge from the pandemic should be grounded in and supported by strong climate policy, and designed in alignment with climate, health and economic goals. To ensure success in a decarbonizing global marketplace in the years to come, the following principles should be integral to our stimulus response:

• Following immediate financial relief, the priority for stimulus measures should be given to funding that supports employment opportunities that will withstand future economic shocks and disruption as the world seeks to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

• Investments that support the development of industries and businesses producing low- and zero-carbon goods and services should be prioritized to grow the foundation for Canada’s low-carbon economy and secure our domestic supply chain.

• Investments in industry should incentivize decarbonization efforts that go beyond existing regulatory requirements.

• And, finally, where possible, economic recovery decisions should be made through the lens of Canada’s ability to meet its climate commitments.

This means, among other things, investing in Canadian workers.