Four ways for economies to grow back greener

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Economic Forum has said that there is a historic opportunity to rethink the key tenets of our economic systems. In Government Insider, Ben Caldecott shares how governments can integrate climate risk into their finance decisions. There is an opportunity to build a world resilient to climate change but green finance initiatives from governments around the world are needed to be able to succeed.

This includes measures such as climate risk assessments for all new projects, policy decisions that align with green targets,  and holding companies to account if they fail to consider how their investments can harm the environment.

In the UK, the Government's Green Finance Strategy should ensure that risks and opportunities from climate and environmental factors are part of mainstream financial decision making. In Southeast Asia, meanwhile, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia have already announcing plans to create new supervisory expectations for regulating firms.

Globally, the climate ambition of governments must be match by financial investments if economies are to grow back greener.