Why inclusion matters for a green post-COVID recovery

For a green and inclusive recovery after COVID-19, broad and deep social support is required. Bringing small enterprises, low-income groups and marginalised communities into the investment and policymaking process is not merely a ‘nice to have’, it is key in the transition to green and inclusive economies.

This IIED Debates event will hear how citizen-led dialogues can generate more effective policy and accelerate the green recovery.

The full extent of the suffering caused by COVID-19 is still emerging, but poor communities, small and informal businesses, and marginalised communities are bearing the brunt of the crisis. The pandemic has exposed the scale of global inequalities, and it is likely to exacerbate them.

The 'green recovery' has emerged as one of the key solutions to COVID-19, but what are the practical solutions for ensuring that green economic policies leave no one behind?

Over the last four years the Green Economy Coalition (GEC) has supported participatory dialogues led by local civil society partners focused on the transition to a green economy. These dialogues were co-designed with a range of stakeholders to strengthen public support for green and fair programmes, and mainstream social inclusion into policymaking.

Contrary to the assumption is that more participatory policy processes are slow or cumbersome, results from the dialogues show that inclusive process design and outcome results in a faster green economic transition.

This IIED Debates event hosted in partnership with the GEC on Friday, 27 November 2020 brought together GEC partners from Peru and India to discuss why inclusion is so critical for the green transition post-COVID-19, and how dialogue models can drive results.

What does it take to structure an inclusive transition? How can we recognise civil society and include people’s priorities in green economy policy processes? How can we build public support for green and fair programmes, and mainstream social inclusion into policymaking? And what can donors, governments, and business do to strengthen inclusive green transition policy?