• Australia is among the top-spenders on pandemic recovery initiatives, but has diverted very little of those funds to green projects, according to the Oxford University Economic Recovery Project.
• In a March report, researchers found Australia is “missing opportunities” and lags behind other major economies.
• The authors say nations that are vulnerable to climate change, like Australia, could stand to invest in ‘natural capital investment’ projects.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Australia is a world-leader in pandemic recovery spending, but ranks rock bottom of the world’s top fifty economies in terms of diverting those funds to green initiatives, according to the Oxford University Economic Recovery Project (OUERP).

In a March report, researchers found Australia is “missing opportunities” to stimulate the economy by diverting billions of dollars towards sustainable and renewable projects.

Considered as a percentage of 2019’s GDP, Australia’s recovery spending, defined as long-term fiscal measures to bolster the economy, ranks fourth among the world’s top fifty economies, behind only Spain, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.

As noted by Guardian Australia, little of that spending flowed to green projects, compared to the tens of billions channeled to those fields by comparable economies.

According to estimates from the UN’s Global Recovery Observatory, which supported the report, Australia has spent a total of $170 billion in recovery projects.

Just 2% of that, or $3.4 billion, was identified as green recovery spending.

Australia was further singled out for hitching its economic recovery to the natural gas industry, instead of truly green power, and researchers noted Australia’s construction-related stimulus — namely, the $2 billion HomeBuilder grant scheme — came with no green construction caveats.

Similar deficits were observed in Australia’s investment in green transportation, compared to the billions of dollars in electric vehicle subsidies now offered in nations like South Korea.

Elsewhere, OUERP did circle Australia’s investment in ‘natural capital investment’ projects, namely initiatives to preserve the Great Barrier Reef.

Even so, the report states a bushfire-ravaged Australia could do more in this field, saying nations “whose climates are projected to become increasingly volatile as the impacts of anthropogenic climate change worsen” are “particularly likely” to economically benefit from boosted natural capital investment.

The findings come almost a year after carbon emissions dropped during pandemic-led industry shutdowns, sparking temporary, and largely unrealised, hopes of a global shift to sustainable, renewable practices.

While Australia is one of several established economies “missing opportunities” to invest in green projects, the report’s authors said nations still battling the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic could improve during their recovery phase.

“Although the world has so far fallen short of “building back better” rhetoric, given the
continuing nature of the pandemic, opportunities to spend wisely on recovery continue,” the authors state.

“By urgently prioritising long-term economic, social, and environmental objectives, nations can build towards future prosperity.”

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