G7 criticised for Covid bailouts with no ‘green strings’ attached

G7 criticised for Covid bailouts with no ‘green strings’ attached

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The world's leading economies have allocated more than $189bn of pandemic recovery funds in support of fossil fuels, despite government pledges to "build back greener“ and cut carbon emissions.

More than half of $372bn given by G7 countries to energy-producing and consuming activities from January 2020 until March this year was for coal, oil and gas, according to research from Tearfund, a development charity, backed by two independent think-tanks.

Most of the money was handed over "no strings attached“ without any demands on the companies receiving help to reduce their carbon footprint.

"The economic recovery post-Covid is a huge opportunity to accelerate the transition to a green economy,“ said Rich Gower, a senior associate at Tearfund. "At the moment, the G7 are not taking that opportunity.“

Pandemic lifelines highlighted in the report included the German government's €9bn bailout of airline Lufthansa and $10bn in US government support for airports.

Around $147bn went towards clean energy projects, such as a tax incentive in Italy to encourage people to make their homes more energy efficient.

G7 countries represent around a quarter of global carbon emissions, though only account for around 10 per cent of the world's population.

Governments have raised their green commitments this year ahead of the UN's