Building the Road to Greener Pastures: How the G20 Can Support the Recovery with Sustainable Local Infrastructure Investment

The economic consequences of COVID-19 have increased the need for substantial infrastructure investment to support the global recovery. This report recommends that the focus should be, in particular, on sustainable investment to help achieve the Paris Agreement climate targets and to avoid more capital becoming stranded as climate policies toughen in the coming decades. Local infrastructure, which accounts for most sustainable infrastructure needs, should be a major target area. Building on the G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure, this report investigates the role those different aspects of predominantly local infrastructure could play in the decarbonisation of the G20 economies.

The economic crisis arising from COVID-19 has led G20 economies to unleash huge volumes of fiscal support. This support has tended to prioritise protection of existing economic structures. As support measures transition into fiscal stimulus, G20 governments must consider the structural impact that measures will have on long-term economic growth. The necessity for fiscal stimulus in the recovery provides a unique opportunity for a sustainable infrastructure strategy aimed at transforming G20 economies into economies fit for the challenges and changes of the twenty-first century.

To read the full report from Bruegel, please click here.