Page 115 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

3. Various international surveys show that a large majority of
citizens around the world want the economic recovery from

the corona crisis to prioritize climate change. [117] In the
countries that compose the G20, a sizeable majority of
65% of citizens support a green recovery. [118]

4. Some cities like Seoul are furthering their commitment to

climate and environment policies by implementing their
own “Green New Deal”, framed as one way to mitigate the
pandemic fallout. [119]

The direction of the trend is clear but, ultimately, systemic

change will come from policy-makers and business leaders willing
to take advantage of COVID stimulus packages to kick-start the
nature-positive economy. This will not only be about public
investments. The key to crowding private capital into new sources

of nature-positive economic value will be to shift key policy levers
and public finance incentives as part of a wider economic reset.
There is a strong case for acting more forcefully on spatial
planning and land-use regulations, public finance and subsidy

reform, innovation policies that help to drive expansion and
deployment in addition to R&D, blended finance and better
measurement of natural capital as a key economic asset. Many
governments are starting to act, but much more is needed to tip

the system towards a nature-positive new norm and make a
majority of people all over the world realize this is not only an
imperious necessity but also a considerable opportunity. A policy
paper prepared by Systemiq in collaboration with the World

Economic Forum [120] estimates that building the nature-positive
economy could represent more than $10 trillion per year by 2030
– in terms of new economic opportunities as well as avoided
economic costs. In the short term, deploying around $250 billion

of stimulus funding could generate up to 37 million nature-positive
jobs in a highly cost-effective manner. Resetting the environment
should not be seen as a cost, but rather as an investment that will

generate economic activity and employment opportunities.

Hopefully, the threat from COVID-19 won’t last. One day, it will
be behind us. By contrast, the threat from climate change and its

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