Achieving a Fossil-Free Recovery

“This report proposes a series of actions that governments can undertake to achieve a fossil-free recovery, following five key principles that countries can apply to transition to a low-carbon economy while using their energy systems to boost their economies, create employment, and meet their climate and development goals.” These include: “1. Do not provide public money to fossil fuel production; 2. Raise money from fossil fuel subsidy reform and taxes; 3. Swap support from fossil fuels to clean energy; 4. Incentivize investments in clean electricity; and 5. Ensure the transition is a just one.” "This report looks at how governments should design their COVID-19 recovery support to the energy sector in order to achieve a fossil-free recovery that supports the achievement of the SDGs and net-zero commitments. First, it provides a snapshot of how governments have supported the energy sector in their COVID-19 recovery packages over the past year. It shows that while several countries have supported cleaner forms of energy, the largest share of the funding goes to fossil fuel-intensive sectors, adding to the already-high fossil fuel subsidies that governments provide annually. In this context, the following chapters present and elaborate on the five principles that governments should consider to align their support packages for the energy sector with their climate and sustainability targets. These principles should be considered as a series of steps that governments can take to raise money from fossil fuels and spend it in a way that supports the clean energy transition, depending on specific country contexts. This paper focuses on various concepts and options for different country contexts, but the implementation of the principles should also consider the broader aspects of defining the right policies, creating the right skills, and ensuring a just transition away from fossil fuels over the long term, according to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) Just Transition Guidelines presented in this report. This report is aimed at the world's governments, particularly policy-makers and ministries dealing with COVID-19 recovery packages, energy planning, and climate change mitigation, such as ministries of finance, energy, and foreign affairs working on plans for net-zero and the SDG targets."