Investments in a post-COVID-19 economic recovery will either kick-start jobs and growth for a cleaner, more resilient economy or lock Canada into a high-pollution future. Today, the Task Force for a Resilient Recovery released its final report, recommending specific measures and investments to help the Government of Canada achieve the former.

The Task Force urges Canada’s leaders to learn from the missed opportunities of 2010, when countries made investments coming out of the 2008/09 financial crisis that resulted in a historic global increase in carbon emissions.

Its final report recommends CAD 55.4 billion in green recovery investments that will support long-term jobs and economic growth and keep Canada on pace with its international peers.

The independent group of 15 finance, policy, and sustainability leaders launched in May to urgently identify and recommend how the government can stimulate an economic recovery from COVID-19 that gets Canadians back to work while supporting Canada’s climate goals.

The final report from the Task Force includes new analysis of international recovery investments, which shows that Canada’s peers are leading the charge toward a recovery built around the massive opportunities of a clean economy and a net-zero emissions future.

The Task Force for a Resilient Recovery makes 22 recommendations for how Canada can stay competitive and prosperous in this global clean economy, including through investments in energy-efficient and climate-resilient buildings, jumpstarting Canada’s production and adoption of zero-emission vehicles, investing in hydrogen and clean energy, and growing the nature economy.

“Drawing on ideas from across Canada and around the world, our recommendations will deliver the safe, clean and long-term economic recovery that Canadians are ready for,” said Richard Florizone, President and CEO of the International Institute for Sustainable Development and chair of the Task Force for a Resilient Recovery.

With the release of the final report, the Task Force for a Resilient Recovery is now formally concluded.

A technical briefing on the final report will be held at 11:30 a.m. EST on September 16. Media can register here.

Media Contacts:

Vanessa Farquharson
Communications Manager, Editorial Strategy, IISD
613-238-2296 ext. 114
[email protected]

Eric Campbell
Communications Director
613-790-1100
[email protected]

ANN ARBOR, MI—World-class scientists and researchers from across North America and Africa will soon be putting their heads (and expertise) together to tackle some of the most pressing issues—algal blooms, climate change, invasive species, fragile fisheries, to name but a few—facing the African Great Lakes (AGL).

The AGL are highly valuable natural resources, renowned for their rich fisheries and "biodiversity hotspots." Consequently, they, and the ecosystem services they provide, underpin the welfare and livelihoods of over 50 million people across 10 countries.

This is all thanks to a new major partnership announced today between the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education (ACARE). The IISD-ACARE collaboration will provide an opportunity for the world’s freshwater laboratory and networks on the African Great Lakes to come together and strengthen science on large freshwater resources and the countries in which they reside.

Despite the recognized importance of the AGL, these vital ecosystems and their livelihood support systems are threatened by the impact of human activity, such as overfishing and pollution at local, regional, and global scales.

To address some of the challenges on the African Great Lakes, IISD-ACARE, will combine the legal and policy expertise of IISD’s vast expert staff with ACARE’s African network of large-lakes experts in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

“We have recognized that no one organization, institution, or even country, can address the challenges that our global freshwater resources face. It is essential, therefore, to strengthen collaborations for leveraging the combined skills, assets, technologies and resources of public, private, and non-profit entities to deliver sustainable instruction, guidance, and research to protect these resources,” said Dr. Kevin Obiero, Chair, ACARE’s Board of Directors.

“Partnering with the International Institute for Sustainable Development will enhance our ability to strengthen science and positively affect policy and management on these critical resources and provide the experience of working with the global scientific community.”

Strengthening the IISD-ACARE approach is IISD’s Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA)—the only place in the world where scientists can manipulate real lakes to understand what human activity does to fresh water. A series of 58 lakes and their watersheds in northwestern Ontario, Canada, IISD-ELA brings over 50 years of freshwater research like no other and policy analysis to inform decision making.

“ACARE has created a world-class, highly collaborative network of experts on each of the African Great Lakes,” said Dr. Matthew McCandless, Executive Director, IISD-ELA. “Resources from IISD and ACARE’s combined networks will allow us to accomplish three long-term goals: strengthening global and regional research partnerships; facilitating existing, and boosting new, transboundary and inter-jurisdictional lake advisory groups; and, strengthening the capacity of freshwater scientists through experiential education and public engagement.”

During its first year, the new partnership will boost the activities of six Advisory Groups that were created to address issues on each of the African Great Lakes (considered to be lakes Albert, Edward, Kivu, Malawi/Nyasa/Niassa, Tanganyika, Turkana, and Victoria). Members of each group are harmonizing priorities on the lakes to advance work on scientific inquiry, monitoring, climate change, and education and training, among other issues.

To learn more about the partnership and programs, click here.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Ted Lawrence, Executive Director, African Center for Aquatic Research and Education, [email protected]

Sumeep Bath, Communications Manager, IISD Experimental Lakes Area, [email protected]

About ACARE

The African Center for Aquatic Research and Education (ACARE) was established to help strengthen and harmonize science and information exchange through a highly collaborative network of freshwater experts.

The new global initiative, supported by the GEF-managed Special Climate Change Fund, will use financial modelling and climate change projections to establish the business case for investing in nature and make it easier for investors and government officials to assign a value to nature-based solutions when making infrastructure spending decisions.

The project will equip decision-makers with comprehensive, system-wide valuations of natural assets, reflecting capital and operating costs as well as co-benefits from carbon sequestration, air purification, protection against water scarcity, and climate change adaptation, plus cost comparisons with grey infrastructure alternatives.

This is important, as many decision-makers currently lack the tools to directly compare green or hybrid infrastructure solutions with alternatives, for instance when making decisions about flood control, food security, coastal protection, water conservation, and wastewater treatment. Such infrastructure planning and spending decisions will be critically important in the coming years as countries plan their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and work toward more ambitious climate change, biodiversity, and other goals and frameworks.

“We are proud to support this venture, which will address the critical evidence gap that investors and project developers currently face as they evaluate whether to invest in nature and nature-based infrastructure,” said GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii. “Making this information more readily available will be a game changer for those making long-term decisions about infrastructure investments for economic recovery and development.”

The MAVA Foundation, a philanthropic organization working to conserve biodiversity for the benefit of people and nature, is partnering with the GEF and has pledged to provide USD 2 million in co-financing to scale up the impact of the project, which will be implemented by UNIDO and executed by IISD.

The project, which will use data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, will also include a public online database making information on the valuation and performance of nature-based infrastructure available to a wide variety of project partners and stakeholders.

“Nature is part of the fundamental infrastructure on which thriving societies and economies depend. Despite its regenerative capacity, natural infrastructure—like built infrastructure - needs maintenance and therefore investment. This project will demonstrate that investing in maintaining and restoring our natural capital provides solutions to societal problems—above all to the adaptation to climate change. Most importantly, the training and capacity development offered will scale the project impact far beyond the concrete case examples,” said MAVA Foundation Director General Lynda Mansson.

"Our aim for this project is to consider social, economic, and environmental factors to demonstrate the system-wide case for investing in large-scale nature-based solutions,” said IISD President and CEO Richard Florizone. “Natural ecosystems like forests, mangroves, wetlands, and grasslands provide a range of ‘services’ that can complement and even substitute for built infrastructure. The strong evidence base we build through this unique partnership will help all market participants confidently invest in nature."

“In line with UNIDO’s mandate to promote inclusive and sustainable industrial development, we actively cooperate with private sector entities to further environmental stewardship approaches. This project will allow us to quantify the positive impact of stewardship activities on ecosystems as well as to demonstrate the cost efficiency of nature-based infrastructure. It will also allow us to highlight the economic value of the positive externalities provided by nature-based infrastructure to our partners in governments and international finance institutions. Thus, the project will have a catalytic impact on UNIDO’s efforts to up-scale public-private partnerships on environmental stewardship as required for a transformational change in climate change adaptation,” said UNIDO Managing Director Stephan Sicars.

The new project is an example of the GEF’s ongoing commitment to help countries and partners make wise investment decisions related to nature-based solutions and climate resilience, and reflects the Special Climate Change Fund’s focus on supporting innovative and impactful adaptation solutions. It will also support the Global Commission on Adaptation’s call to scale up action on nature-based solutions for adaptation.

For more information, please contact:

Laura MacInnis, GEF Senior Communications Officer, [email protected]
Zahra Sethna, IISD Director of Communications, [email protected]
Holger Schmid, MAVA Foundation Program Director, [email protected]
Christian Susan, UNID Communications Officer, [email protected]

About the GEF
The Global Environment Facility was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. Since then, the GEF has provided more than USD 20 billion in grants and mobilized an additional USD 112 billion in co-financing for more than 4,800 projects in 170 countries. Through its Small Grants Programme, the GEF has provided support to nearly 24,000 civil society and community initiatives in 133 countries.

About the SCCF
The Special Climate Change Fund was established in response to guidance from the Conference of the Parties (COP7) in Marrakech in 2001. The SCCF complements the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), another GEF-managed trust fund focused on climate change adaptation. Unlike the LDCF, the SCCF is open to all vulnerable developing countries. In addition, it funds a wider range of activities related to climate change with a specific focus on innovation. To date the SCCF has a portfolio of more than USD 350 million supporting 85 projects globally.

23 JULY 2020, WINNIPEG, CANADA – Launched at sdg.tracking-progress.org, The Global SDG Indicator Platform offers people the chance to explore indicators for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs) across the planet. The platform not only gives users an engaging experience while answering, “Are we there yet?” regarding development but also highlights the importance of data availability in guiding policy decisions.

The platform incorporates approximately 100 data indicators used to measure progress toward the SDGs. The site and its companion report include information for each indicator, such as the indicator’s custodian organization, rationale, limitations, and data sources. By setting the platform’s “dashboard” feature to compare countries with similar conditions and trends, users can uncover examples where best practices may be found—and where actions on one goal may help or hinder achieving other goals.

A review of the Global SDG Indicator Platform and its companion report reveal:

• In line with recent statements from UN and world leaders, much of the planet is not on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
• SDGs 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) had the highest number of countries reporting data.
• SDGs 5 (Gender Equality), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and 14 (Life Below Water) had the fewest number of countries reporting data.
• There are as many approaches to assessing SDG implementation data as there are studies assessing SDG implementation. High-profile reports have either extrapolated trends out to 2030, graded countries’ trends A-F, set end values for SDG targets, ranked countries on SDG achievement from 0-100, or developed regional and/or sub-regional aggregates from indicator data.
• SDG target 17.18 specifically calls for capacity building around data to assess progress on the SDGs. It was assigned an early deadline in 2020 – recognizing that the data required to construct the indicators is instrumental in driving progress on the Goals. Failure to achieve this target this year will hamper efforts to get the 2030 Agenda back “on track.”

While data gaps may be related to the relative importance of an issue in a region – for example, countries where malaria is rare are unlikely to monitor Indicator 3.3.3.—others involve major indicators of societal well-being. For example, Indicator 8.6.1 tracks youth not in education, employment, or training—a key metric of potential youth labour market entrants as well as an indication of the size of a group that may be at risk of being “left behind.” The percentage of countries reporting on this indicator is under 65% in five of the six global regions.

July 7, 2020, Ottawa—As the federal government works out its COVID-19 economic recovery, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) today released seven principles that outline a roadmap for meeting Canada’s 2050 climate commitments while spurring economic resiliency and creating good jobs. Canada’s leading environmental groups, who represent close to two million people, have signed on to the new recommendations. Several of the groups, including the Pembina Institute, Climate Action Network Canada, David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence, and Équiterre, met last week with key federal ministers to provide a more detailed path forward as Canada moves out of an emergency phase and into recovery.gr

"The federal government is spending billions on economic stimulus and has signalled that it is committed to a green recovery. This report shows the vital importance of strong climate action if we are to be effective in creating good jobs, a resilient economy and a healthy, fair society,” says Vanessa Corkal of IISD, lead author of the report. “Our response to COVID-19 must put us on a better path to confront the climate and biodiversity crises, which in their own way will have major health impacts."

Several organizations, including the Climate Action Network Canada, Leadnow, and Greenpeace Canada, have started mobilizing their members across the country to ask MPs to commit to the seven green recovery principles. Mobilizing efforts, including days of action and e-rallies, will continue through the summer.

“This spring, while over 400 organizations across Canada united to call for a transformational and just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, oil and gas companies were lobbying hard to take Canada backwards. This is unacceptable,” says Catherine Abreu of Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac). “If applied by government, the principles of the Green Strings report will ensure the federal government steers our economy towards a climate safe future that protects people and the planet.”

The report Green Strings: Principles and Conditions for a Green Recovery from COVID-19 gives policy-makers concrete steps to act on. These steps include adding conditions, or “green strings,” to funding given to industry, such as requiring concrete plans for net-zero emissions by 2050, with immediate action for reducing emissions in key high-carbon sectors. The report also recommends financial conditions—including prohibiting corporate stock buybacks and executive bonuses, and withholding support from companies using tax havens—coupled with strong transparency and accountability measures.

The paper provides guidance on using stimulus to facilitate a fair energy transition, supporting workers and providing training for low-carbon jobs, and investing in solutions like clean electricity and low-carbon fuels while protecting and strengthening environmental regulations and policy frameworks.

The authors of the report urge policy-makers working on recovery to take steps to increase equity and well-being and uphold Indigenous rights. To truly build back better, the authors say, recovery must address societal inequities, which are magnified by COVID-19 and climate change.

“This report is a roadmap for ensuring the coherence of reconstruction projects with Canada's environmental objectives,” says Caroline Brouillette of Équiterre. “We are optimistic about the possibility of integrating these principles into the plans and policies that will be developed by the federal government in the coming weeks.”

As Canada’s post-pandemic future comes into focus, authors of the report say that, in order to reach our economic, health, and social goals, climate considerations must be at the forefront of our recovery.

"This is a historic moment—not only are we dealing with a global health crisis, but how governments put recovery into action will lock in our environmental footprint for decades,” says study co-author Aaron Cosbey of IISD. “We’ll end up spending hundreds of billions of dollars on relief and recovery—an unprecedented investment by Canadian taxpayers. It’s the government’s right and duty to attach conditions to that spending, making sure it drives us toward the future we all want: a green, prosperous Canada.

Pembina Institute, Climate Action Network Canada, David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence, Greenpeace Canada, Équiterre, Ecojustice, Ecology Action Centre, Conservation Council of New Brunswick, Stand.earth, Leadnow, Sierra Club of Canada, and Wilderness Committee have all signed on to the report.

July 15, 2020—Data made public today on the Energy Policy Tracker, a new website tracking climate- and energy-related recovery policies, shows a total commitment of at least USD 151 billion from G20 governments in support of fossil fuels. Of them, only 20% make financial support conditional on green requirements, such as setting climate targets or implementing pollution reduction plans. At the same time, USD 89 billion has been committed to clean energy but 81% of this support is unspecific about the appropriate environmental safeguards.

The Energy Policy Tracker provides information about public funding commitments and other government policies related to the production and consumption of energy in the G20 countries since the beginning of the pandemic—with weekly updates. While rhetoric about the need for a green recovery has grown louder in the policy space, this data shows that, in reality, fossil fuel producers and high-carbon sectors, such as airlines, are currently receiving 70% more recovery aid than the clean energy.

"The COVID-19 crisis and governments’ responses to it are intensifying the trends that existed before the pandemic struck,” says Dr. Ivetta Gerasimchuk, IISD expert and the Energy Policy Tracker project lead. “National and subnational jurisdictions that heavily subsidized the production and consumption of fossil fuels in previous years have once again thrown lifelines to oil, gas, coal, and fossil fuel-powered electricity. Meanwhile, economies that had already begun a transition to clean energy are now using stimulus and recovery packages to make this happen even faster.”

The Energy Policy Tracker registered over 200 individual policies from G20 countries, combining the amounts committed through each policy to generate total aggregate figures. To provide a detailed, real-world picture of the current state of support for different energy types, the data for both fossil fuels and clean energy is split into sub-categories—unconditional and conditional. These categories provided a more nuanced picture on the different levels of government support for a green recovery from the pandemic.

Angela Picciariello, Senior Research Officer at ODI, says: “In spite of the great number of clean policies being approved by governments in recent months, the tracking system shows how the fossil fuel industry has continued to aggressively lobby policy-makers. This has resulted in some so-called conditional fossil fuel policies that nevertheless lock in dangerous emissions for decades to come. Nor is it always easy to distinguish clean from fossil fuel policies—the tracking system is important to identify the policies causing the greatest, and often hidden, environmental damage.”

G20 countries are responsible for around 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions and account for 85% of global GDP. With G20 governments committed to injecting over USD 8 trillion into the global economy, decisions made today about how these funds will be distributed will lock in the world’s environmental footprint for decades to come.

"Under the guise of COVID-19 recovery spending, governments are pouring huge volumes of public money into the struggling fossil fuel industry, wasting an opportunity to fight the climate crisis while enriching big polluters,” says Alex Doukas, a Program Director at OCI. “Recovery spending must dramatically change course to support clean energy as an investment in the future, instead of subsidizing the polluters of the past. Fossil fuels were a bad investment even before the pandemic began."

“The recovery from the coronavirus crisis needs to result in an acceleration of the energy transition,” says Dr. Tom Moerenhout, Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. “If we miss that opportunity and embark on another fossil fuel-powered economic recovery—as was the case in 2008—then it is not likely but certain that our planet’s already high fever will turn into heatstroke”

According to the data released today, committed support for clean energy amounted so far to USD 89 billion, but only USD 16 billion has been committed to support unconditionally clean energy such as solar or wind.

"We are happy to see that China, Germany, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, and the U.K. have already approved some green recovery policies that provide lasting and decent green jobs,” says Dr. Satoshi Kojima, Principal Coordinator at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). “Further efforts to mainstream this strategy are desirable."

"Today, governments are doubling down on fossil fuels as they grapple with the pandemic and plan their recoveries, but there is still time to build back better,” says Elisa Arond, Research Fellow at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). “Policy-makers and civil society organizations can use the evolving data in this Energy Policy Tracker to help push new recovery policies—and energy policies more broadly—in that direction.”

The results from the Tracker will continue to evolve as more countries are added and weekly updates are made. Only quantifiable policies—those with a specific dollar value attached—are included in the totals, while many energy support policies remain unquantified. Figures representing total public money commitments will continue to evolve over the course of the year and beyond.

An interactive website, EnergyPolicyTracker.org will be updated weekly to reflect current climate and energy policy commitments from G20 governments and beyond. Regular updates can be received by signing up here.

The data is provided by 14 organizations: International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Oil Change International (OCI), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Columbia University in New York City, Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft (FÖS), Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN), Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos (INESC), Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE), Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Legambiente, REN21 and The Australia Institute (TAI)

An additional USD 10 billion is urgently needed to prevent millions more people from becoming food insecure as a result of COVID-19, according to a new report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and Cornell University, as part of the Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger project. Half (USD 5  billion) of this must come from donor governments as aid, with the rest provided by developing countries themselves.

The analysis uses data from the UN’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, which forecasts that COVID-19 could tip up to 130 million more people into chronic hunger by the end of 2020 unless action is taken. Modelling conducted by Ceres2030 found that USD 10 billion must be spent this year to address the hunger and nutrition impacts of the pandemic on the most vulnerable populations.

Carin Smaller, Director of Agriculture, Trade and Investment at IISD and Co-Director of the Ceres2030 project, said: “The warning signs are coming left, right and centre. Without action now, decades of progress will be undone and the chance of meeting the UN target to end hunger by 2030 could be pushed out of reach. Governments must urgently increase spending on social protection programmes to get people the money and food they need to survive the crisis, alongside long-term investments to build more sustainable and resilient food systems.”

The main factor contributing to increased hunger is that the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn have left millions of people across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia without work and unable to buy food. Addressing such complex challenges requires a systemic approach to food security through more and better investments in both rural development and social protection.

David Laborde, Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI and Co-Director of the Ceres2030 project, said: “Even before COVID-19, global efforts to end hunger were falling far short of what was needed. The number of hungry people had been rising for five years in a row according to FAO. The pandemic has exacerbated an already-dire situation: governments need to act quickly to prevent disaster, and put the building blocks in place for a more secure future.”

Supply disruptions—such as problems transporting food to market, labour shortages due to restrictions on migrant workers or COVID-19 outbreaks in factories, and trade restrictions—are also contributing to a rise in hunger. These problems require cooperative, evidence-based policy-making. 

Jaron Porciello, Associate Director at Cornell University and Co-Director of the Ceres2030 project, said: "Social protection is needed not just as an emergency response to COVID-19, but also as a long-term investment in people—boosting their productivity and ensuring they have the means to buy nutritious food, send children to school, and get the healthcare they need. Governments must ensure safety nets work effectively for everyone, particularly women, girls and other vulnerable groups. This means listening to those most at need and ensuring programmes are informed by good quality evidence and data."

/ Ends 

Notes to the editor

• About Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger - Ceres2030 is a cutting-edge research project on the public investments needed to end hunger sustainably, led by Cornell University, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). It was set up to provide donor governments with the tools they need to increase the amount and effectiveness of their investments to end hunger sustainably, in line with the UN goal to end hunger by 2030 (SDG 2).
• Methodology - The Ceres2030 economic model is a global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model built on economic databases. The price tag in this press release uses historical data from the UN’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, published at the same time as this report, on the number of people who were hungry before the COVID-19 pandemic. The model also uses epidemiological data from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and parameters representing social distancing to simulate the specific effects of the pandemic on household food consumption via economic pathways. Households in the model cope - or don’t - by switching to cheaper foods and by reducing food consumption altogether. This means reducing consumption of micronutrient and protein rich foods like fresh produce, dairy, and animal proteins and substituting with staple foods like rice, maize, and wheat.  The estimated effects on food consumption are then used to estimate the cost of social protection programmes providing food or money that would be sufficient to maintain their previous food consumption profile to pre-COVID-19 levels. These costs are required on top of the funds already needed for those that were hungry before the COVID-19 pandemic (690 million people were hungry in 2019, according to the 2020 SOFI report.)

New Delhi, April 16 – India’s renewable energy subsidies fell 35% from FY17 to FY19, while its oil and gas subsidies increased by 65% according to a new study entitled Mapping India’s Energy Subsidies 2020, released today by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). How the government tackles the COVID-19 crisis and economic recovery will be crucial to determining future trends in the energy sector, experts say.

The study emphasizes that the health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19 will influence subsidy expenditure. The crash in world oil prices and the government’s economic stimulus packages will be key factors shaping the energy sector in the upcoming months.

“Rising oil prices and initiatives to promote clean cooking were the main drivers of growing support to fossil fuels since FY2017,” said study co-author Vibhuti Garg of IISD. “After the COVID-19 crisis, petroleum product subsidies will undoubtedly fall significantly in 2020 and other energy markets will be shaken. Fossil fuels are already being taxed more to help plug holes in revenue. Government stimulus needs to first help people cope, but stimulus for the energy sector must avoid new fossil fuel subsidies that lock in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions for years to come.”

The authors of the report note that there were already signs that support for renewable energy would increase again, but with the shocks from COVID-19 it is now critical to stay on track.

“Policy decisions such as the solar safeguard duty and tariff caps on auctions meant that there was a slow-down in new capacity addition and as a result lower state subsidy outgo as well,” adds Karthik Ganesan, CEEW. “Before the current crisis, a number of new, large clean energy subsidies were announced, like KUSUM, Phase 2 of Rooftop Solar, and FAME-II. Resources post-Covid-19 will see an unprecedented crunch. It presents a good opportunity for the government to rein in specific fossil fuel subsidies while creating more fiscal room for promoting renewables and other welfare schemes.”

According to the report, in the last six years, India has shifted significant public resources toward clean energy. Since 2014, fossil fuel subsidies have fallen by more than half, while subsidies for renewable energy and electric vehicles have increased more than three and a half times. Experts believe the long-term ambitions can still be maintained.

The report flags that coal subsidies are one opportunity for reform. Estimated at INR 15,456 crore in FY2019, they have remained largely unchanged for the past six years. The researchers emphasize that the combined costs of subsidies and the social impacts of coal—such as premature loss of life and lost work days from air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)—significantly outweigh government revenues from coal taxes and surcharges paid to Indian Railways.

Another focus for reform highlighted by the study is the large share of subsidies going to electricity transmission and distribution. Government support for this sector amounting to INR 79,671 in FY2019 and should be better targeted to providing help to those who need it most. The experts underline that, to date, large bailouts for the sector have been ineffective at reducing the magnitude of these subsidies.

This report further finds that one of the smallest recipients for subsidies was the electric vehicles sector. Although subsidies for electric cars have grown over 11 times since FY2017, researchers note that continuing to raise ambition on clean transport will be important to meet India’s targets for 30% of new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030.

“Over the past few years, India has stood out for its incredible steps forward with renewable energy deployment,” said Christopher Beaton of IISD. “There are uncertain times ahead, and the first priority has to be health and helping people meet their essential needs. At the same time, we can’t lose sight of ambition for a clean energy transition. The recent INR 8 hike in excise duty for petrol and diesel is one example of how these two things can be aligned. Fossil fuel subsidy reforms could free up more resources for social welfare and inclusive economic recovery.”

First reactions to the report

“This study shows the real, social, cost of coal in India. By subsidizing polluting fossil fuels, the country is suffering from another health crisis: air pollution. Financial relief packages need to take into account the long-term health effects of the energy choices we make today.”

Dr. Maria Neira, WHO Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health

"The report has brought out a holistic view on India's energy transition pathway and different kind of subsidies support provided to the Indian energy sector and their trends. The recommendations made in the report are extremely progressive and provide impetus to promoting clean energy and better utilization of subsidies. The report will greatly facilitate policy-making in the energy sector"

Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog

Winnipeg, March 5, 2020 – A new toolkit launched today by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and Manitoba Chambers of Commerce (MCC) offers practical guidance and resources that will help Manitoba’s business community prepare for the effects of climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate risk, and build resilience.

The Climate Action Toolkit for Manitoba Business is geared toward leaders of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which make up 98% of all registered businesses in the province. Together, these companies represent the largest contributor to Manitoba’s GDP, so how they fare in dealing with climate change will have a huge impact on this economy.

“Manitoba is experiencing frequent severe weather events, rising temperatures, unpredictable rain patterns, and other challenges resulting from climate change,” says Philip Gass, Senior Policy Analyst at IISD. “It’s crucial to our economy that business leaders have access to information about climate change impacts, emission reduction strategies, and how to qualify for government incentives. This toolkit is designed to help steer Manitoba businesses in a climate-friendly direction.”

“We heard loud and clear in our 2019 Manitoba Business Outlook Survey that more than half of the province’s business leaders are concerned about climate change,” says Chuck Davidson, MCC President & CEO. “But we also learned that most of them—almost two thirds—are not incorporating climate action into their strategic planning. This concerns us a great deal, because a lack of preparedness could mean severe impacts on operations, increased insurance premiums, and supply chain issues. As well, a growing number of consumers are looking to the private sector to offer sustainable products and services, and this may present new market opportunities.”

Featured components of the Climate Action Toolkit for Manitoba Business are:

• A primer explaining the effects of climate change on business
• A climate action checklist for business leaders
• Examples of climate action being taken by Manitoba businesses
• Barriers to action, as cited by local SMEs, and efforts to address those
• Links to government programs and incentives for climate action by SMEs
• Highlights from the 2019 survey of climate action by Manitoba SMEs
• Promoting Climate Action to Key Stakeholders (a communications guide for business leaders)

The toolkit was unveiled this morning at a Climate Action for Business 101 seminar hosted by the World Trade Centre (WTC) Winnipeg. Created by IISD and the MCC, the toolkit was inspired and informed by a series of climate action forums hosted across the province by local Chambers of Commerce and facilitated by IISD. The project partners would like to acknowledge financial support for this toolkit from Environment and Climate Change Canada through the Climate Action Fund and thank World Trade Centre Winnipeg for their input and collaboration throughout the initiative.

For media inquiries:

Vanessa Farquharson
Communications Manager, IISD
(613) 238-2296 ext. 114
[email protected]

Karen Viveiros
Director of Communications, Manitoba Chambers of Commerce
(204) 948-0103
[email protected]

The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce was established in 1931 and is the umbrella organization for Manitoba’s chamber movement. With a membership comprised of local Chambers of Commerce as well as direct corporate members, the MCC is Manitoba’s largest business lobby, representing more than 10,000 businesses and community leaders. Its mission is to champion sustainable economic growth leading to greater prosperity for business and communities in Manitoba.

Students, developers, designers, scientists, programmers, engineers, technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs are set to show Manitoba what they're made of by improving the health of one of Canada's most beloved lakes with the 2020 Lake Winnipeg AquaHacking Challenge.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)—an independent think tank home to world-class freshwater experts headquartered in Winnipeg—has just announced the challenge at the two-day DisruptED conference at the RBC Convention Centre from January 30-31.

Between January and October 2020, AquaHacking will challenge students and young professionals to team up and develop innovative solutions to problems plaguing the Lake Winnipeg watershed.

The five issues they’ll be focusing on, just announced at the conference, are:

• managing water on farms;
• keeping fish healthy;
• keeping plastics out of our water;
• ensuring access to clean drinking water; and
• financing a healthy Lake Winnipeg.

“Our beloved Lake Winnipeg often hits the headlines for the wrong reasons, but AquaHacking is asking students and young professionals to look at the issue in a completely different way,” said Jane McDonald, managing director, International Institute for Sustainable Development.

“With guidance and support from mentors in water, tech, and business, the multidisciplinary teams will be collaborating with the tech sector to come up with solutions that haven’t been tried before to address environmental problems. Not to mention there’s $50,000 in cash prizes (including a $20,000 first prize) and incubator space up for grabs!”

“We fully support IISD and believe in the innovative talent on the Prairies to make AquaHacking a success for Lake Winnipeg,” said Dominique Monchamp, interim CEO, AquaHacking,

Throughout the challenge, teams will have access to a variety of workshops and resources, as well as a dedicated group of mentors to help them develop their solutions and refine their pitches. The top five teams will be determined at the AquaHacking Lake Winnipeg semi-final in June 2020, after which they will continue working on their solutions and go on a team-building expedition to IISD Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario.

The winning team will then be determined at a Dragon’s Den-style final in October 2020 in Winnipeg.

AquaHacking is an initiative of Aqua Forum that was founded by the de Gaspe Beaubien Foundation in 2015 to support technology and business development addressing environmental problems related to fresh water. This year, IISD is partnering with Aqua Forum to deliver the AquaHacking Challenge Lake Winnipeg in the Prairies. After five successful years in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Basin, AquaHacking is going national in 2020 with three regional competitions across Canada. In addition to IISD’s competition in the Prairies, there are also AquaHacking Challenges happening in B.C., hosted by the Okanagan Basin Water Board, and Atlantic Canada, hosted by the Atlantic Water Network.

Through research, analysis and knowledge products, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, headquartered in Winnipeg, identifies and champions sustainable solutions that support sound policymaking. Our work affects economies, communities, ecosystems and lives in nearly 100 countries. We have 120 full time staff, plus over 150 associates and consultants working around the world and across many disciplines. We are chemists and biologists, economists and engineers, editors and reporters. Part scientist, part strategist—IISD delivers the knowledge to act.