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The past year has brought dramatic changes to nearly all aspects of life. The COVID-19 pandemic altered the way we live and work, and the economy and the green economy have been drastically affected as a result.
 

Specifically, the quarantine, public health orders, need for remote work, public uncertainty, and school closures led to an economic crisis as well as a decrease in global energy demand. Job losses occurred across nearly all industries, including in fields directly related to energy.

As a result, the current period marks a pivotal moment for the economy as well as the green economy specifically.‌
 

The International Energy Association (IEA) created a Sustainable Recovery Plan (SRP) to address the economic impact of COVID-19 and ensure that green energy is a core part of the recovery. This SRP sets forth specific goals in a wide range of industries designed to maximize both environmental and economic benefits.
 

The Goals of the IEA’s SRP

The IEA Sustainable Recovery Plan has three aims: “to maintain and create jobs, boost economic growth, and improve energy sustainability and resilience.” The SRP will include funding from both the public and private sectors, and government funding would be joined by private investment to reach the above goals.
 

While the SRP will have a significant cost, research shows that green plans stimulate economic growth as well as benefit the environment, particularly if the plans are carefully tailored to maximize economic benefit.
 

Accordingly, the SRP targets specific areas to reach its goals:

 

• electricity
   
• buildings
   
• transport
   
• fuels
   
• industry
   
• innovation
   

By targeting these specific components, the SRP can narrowly tailor its plan to create the most economic benefit while protecting the environment.
 

The Components of the IEA’s SRP
 

Electricity

The SRP for electricity includes upgrading grid infrastructure, increasing wind and solar power, and updating existing as well as building new nuclear and hydropower plants. These steps will reduce carbon emissions and increase consumer access to electricity while also creating and maintaining jobs in the industry.
 

The response to COVID-19 reduced power usage significantly in 2020, but wind and power usage actually increased in that timeframe. To continue growing wind and solar power, governments will need to continue to invest in both wind and solar power as well as in upgrading the infrastructure that supports it. This in turn will create new jobs and help energy workers who lost their jobs in 2020.

 

Buildings

By focusing on improving buildings, the SRP will both create many local jobs as well as increase building energy efficiency.
 

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, industry leaders like Miniwiz were already developing new building materials to increase efficiency as well as decrease waste. The SRP would continue to promote these efforts as well as spur new technologies to improve existing buildings and ensure new buildings maximize efficiency. These projects would create a boom in the construction industry, generating many new jobs directly involved in the construction work as well as jobs in the creation/production of more efficient materials.
 

In addition to the building structures, household appliances are a prime target for the SRP. Appliances create an enormous demand for energy resources, and they use about one-fourth of the total electricity consumed.
 

The COVID-19 pandemic has also changed where our energy is consumed. Because so many people work from home now, household energy use has gone up significantly. All the computers running Zoom from home offices and kitchen tables combined with our greatly reduced mobility have had an impact.
 

Another related change has been a slump in many home appliance sales. The SRP will target this issue with government support for the manufacture of more efficient home appliances and electronics. This in turn will help support jobs in an industry with declining demand.
 

Transport

One of the sectors hit the hardest by the pandemic, transport, also is in position to gain significant changes from the SRP. Car use and sales significantly decreased in 2020, which in turn led to the loss of many automotive jobs and increased the potential for layoffs in the future.
 

Likewise, air travel has faced a sharp downturn along with other forms of public transportation. Investment in energy-efficient vehicles, in high-speed rail public transportation systems, and in increasing the access to walking and cycling paths are some of the ways the SRP will create and preserve jobs as well as protect the environment.
 

Fuels

Job creation is key for the fuel sector under the SRP. Oil and gas are the primary fuel sources globally, but thanks to the dramatic changes in behavior as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for all sources of energy, including oil and gas, dropped significantly in 2020. The oil and gas industry may see serious job loss in the future. Biodiverse fuels have fared even worse.
 

The SRP will prioritize biodiverse fuels with monetary investments in those meeting certain sustainability criteria. The SRP will also focus on reducing methane emissions. Many current oil and gas workers facing job loss could work in this field.
 

Industry

Like nearly all sectors, manufacturing and other industrial fields have faced a substantial slump due to the pandemic. Many existing industrial structures are also extremely energy inefficient, and they are stocked with equipment and materials that are similarly inefficient.

The SRP calls for investments in improving efficiency in existing manufacturing facilities, agricultural settings, and supply chains, all to generate jobs as well as longer-term stability.
 

Innovation

The SRP is not focused only on immediate results. While a quick global economic recovery is the primary goal, the SRP looks to the future with its provisions for innovation. Developing new technologies in clean energy can help prevent future economic slumps.‌
 

‌The Future of the IEA’s SRP

The IEA’s SRP is not just a green plan but also an economic plan. Implementing this SRP would add almost 9 million jobs to the global economy‌ in the next three years alone. But so far, many governments have not incorporated enough of the SRP measures into their recovery plans. As a result, global emissions actually increased in 2020 compared with those in 2019.
 

In addition to continuing to push for more of these measures from our governments, individual choices — from consumer-based to industry-based — can help accomplish many of the goals in the plan. From buying more efficient appliances to choosing energy-efficient building materials, many solutions are available.
 

Read more related articles.

 

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