BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 12. Governments worldwide have allocated over $710 billion in sustainable recovery measures as of end-March 2022, the largest ever clean energy recovery effort, Trend reports with reference to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The agency estimates that this figure is 40 percent higher than what was spent after the global financial crisis.
“Governments in advanced economies have earmarked $370 billion worth of clean energy measures to be spent by 2023, which is consistent with the short term spending required in the IEA Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario. But the latest figures confirm a widening gap between advanced and emerging and developing economies (EMDEs), the former dedicating ten times more fiscal resources to sustainable recovery measures than the latter,” reads the latest IEA report.
The report says that government spending on sustainable recovery measures in EMDEs is less than a quarter (around USD 52 billion by 2023) of the short-term investment needed to reach mid-century net zero emission goals.
IEA believes that this spending is likely to remain low, as these countries focus their limited fiscal leeway on keeping food and fuel affordable in the coming months.
“Even advanced economies risk not delivering all their ambitious sustainable recovery packages within the designated timeframes. Some governments have not yet established adequate programs to adequately channel funding. Consumer-oriented supports (e.g. retrofit subsidies and/or tax credits, heat pump installation incentives) are not reaching enough people, hindered by lack of information and administrative burdens. In addition, post-lockdown supply chain bottlenecks, labour shortages and price spikes are slowing project development and in some cases jeopardising completion,” the report says.
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