Nick Robins at HSBC has just sent over a copy of their excellent report A Climate for Recovery, which compares the green element of economic recovery plans around the world: must read stuff.
Among the headline findings: governments around the world have so far allocated $430bn to climate-related themes, with the US and China in the lead; and that the key benefiting sectors include rail, water infrastructure, power grids and building energy efficiency, but renewables less so (apart from in the US).
Especially interesting is the table breaking down recovery plans by countries. A whopping 37.8% of China’s stimulus package is counted as green, but the real laurel wreath here goes to South Korea, at 80.5%. The US is at 18.2%. (Britain? Down at 2.1%. Not that that stopped our Gordon from handing down a lengthy disquisition on the importance of climate change when he made his speech to Congress…)
HSBC profess themselves hopeful that what we’ve seen so far is just the first installment, with more to come. Let’s hope so – but given the trouble Tim Geithner’s been having trying to get Europe to cough up more for fiscal stimulus, I’m not holding my breath for the London Summit…
