"Green Stimulus" at the G20

Leaders of the world’s largest economies are meeting this week in London to take on the daunting task of getting the global economy back on track. By coincidence, international climate negotiators are also meeting this week in Bonn attempting the same for the global climate.
There is an essential link between economic recovery and addressing climate change, since both will require massive, well-crafted spending and investments. There is great urgency to both stave off further economic damage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly. Therefore, the "stress test" for every government stimulus package should be whether it will reduce emissions and build communities’ resilience to climate impacts.
Fortunately, the majority of the G20 economic recovery packages announced to date include "green stimulus" measures. These include the United States, China, Japan, Germany and others. When you add them up, some 14 percent of stimulus packages are climate-friendly.
However, as Lord Stern suggests, this figure should be even higher. Stern suggests that 20% of the total stimulus should be "green," with more spent in countries where more opportunities lie, and less in countries that have already made significant investments.
Stern argues that in order to get us on the right "green" track, the G20 must focus on seven strategic areas:
1. improve energy efficiency;
2. upgrade physical infrastructure;
3. support clean technology markets;
4. initiate flagship projects;
5. enhance international R&D;
6. incentivize investment; and
7. coordinate G20 efforts around these.