Governments have ‘historic opportunity’ to accelerate clean energy transition, IEA says

Published on 17/03/2020, 2:58pm
IEA head Fatih Birol is calling on heads of state and international financial institutions to make coronavirus recovery plans sustainable

Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, told Climate Home News economic recovery packages to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic were “a historic opportunity” to boost clean energy investments. (Photo: Friends of Europe/Flickr)

By Chloé Farand

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Political and financial leaders have “a historic opportunity” to usher in a new era for global climate action with economic stimulus packages to confront the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.

In an interview with Climate Home News on Tuesday, Fatih Birol said stimulus packages to prop up economic recovery marked a critical moment for governments to “shape policies” in line with climate action.

“I am talking with several governments and international financial institutions leaders because they are all busy designing stimulus programmes for the economy – the plans they will put together will be extremely important,” he said.