New Climate Economy is a left-of-center environmental and economic policy advocacy organization. Founded in 2013, the group is an initiative of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, and is referred to as its “flagship project.”

It is a partner of the environmentalist nonprofit research group World Resources Institute; ¹  several of its leaders also occupy leadership roles at that institution. Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon is an honorary chair of New Climate Economy. ²

Background

Founded in 2013 as a joint effort of governmental agencies in the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Sweden, Norway, South Korea, Indonesia, and Colombia, New Climate Economy was an initiative of the defunct Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, and was referred to as its “flagship project.” ³

Although the Global Commission was disbanded in 2022, New Climate Economy continues as a mouthpiece for that group’s views, commissioning studies and publishing research papers that push for economic-based pressure to implement environmentalist agenda points: carbon taxes and markets, cessation of fossil fuel subsidies, and carbon reduction legislation. ^{4 5}

Advocacy

Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative

In its 2016 report, “The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative,” New Climate Economy lays out many of its economic policy ideas, purportedly intended to improve the environment by reducing carbon emissions. These included phasing out governmental subsidization of the fossil fuel industry, a shift toward weather-dependent “renewable” energy, and a change to “appropriate” pricing of fossil fuels and carbon-based energy sources. The report suggested that this shift would “generate revenue that can be redirected, for instance, to support poor people.” It also proposed that banks and other lending institutions could be regulated to “reorient incentives and reframe how investors view risks and potential returns,” such as using “sustainability criteria” in their lending practices. ⁶

The same report praises China for “leading the way,” highlighting its creation of a Green Finance Task Force, and the publication of its 2015 “Green Financial Bond Guideline.” It also drew attention to the Norwegian parliament for its decision to withdraw sovereign wealth investment funds from any corporation “making more than 30 percent of their turnover from coal operations.” ⁷

Africa

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director of the World Trade Organization (WTO), cited research from New Climate Economy in a 2019 Financial Times op-ed. In it, she questioned whether African countries should use coal resources to give electricity to its citizens first, then switch to “low-carbon” later. “The answer is no,” she asserted, and then drew attention to global efforts to force energy alternatives, while providing an economic boost through carbon taxes (styled ‘carbon pricing’). ⁸

In its report Africa’s New Climate Economy, New Climate Economy lays out a comprehensive plan to implement its ideas on that continent. An infobox laments that although infant mortality has fallen in Sub-Saharan Africa, fertility rates have remained stable, resulting in an increase in population. The report suggests that lower infant mortality should result in a “fertility transition”: since more children survive infancy, women will desire to have fewer babies. New Climate Economy’s report suggests that this “delayed fertility transition” could be remedied by an increase in female education and gender equality. ⁹

New Climate Economy’s report also proposed African nations receive increased financial incentives under the United Nations’ REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) initiative, in which countries are paid to refrain from harvesting timber resources. ¹⁰

The World Resources Institute has stated its intention to put New Climate Economy’s ideas into practice in Nigeria and Ethiopia. ¹¹

Related Organizations

Food and Land Use Coalition

The Food and Land Use Coalition (also known as Food and Other Land Use or FOLU) is an initiative launched in 2017 by members of the New Climate Economy’s Business Sustainable Coalition. Formed in conjunction with the German environmentalist group SYSTEMIQ, this group focuses on changing farming and land use practices, with an aim at making them more “sustainable.” ¹²

It is also a proponent of replacing meat with plant, worm, and insect-based substitutes, or with lab-grown meat. Part of its approach includes gradually instituting a cultural norm in which “it is socially unacceptable to over-consume meat.” ^{13 14}

Coalition for Urban Transitions

The Coalition for Urban Transitions is a global research and policy advocacy group that highlights ways to shift urban economic systems and city planning to align with left-of-center environmentalist agendas. Stockholm Environment Institute is a member of this group. ¹⁵

In a 2021 report titled “Seizing the Urban Opportunity,” Coalition for Urban Transitions suggested using the unprecedented wave of government spending during the COVID-19 pandemic as a pivot-point to advance left-leaning urban restructuring ideas such as “fifteen-minute” walkable cities, net-zero carbon protocols, and “inclusive and resilient” urban systems. ¹⁶

People

New Climate Economy is a partner of the environmental nonprofit research group World Resources Institute; several of its leaders also occupy leadership roles at that institution. ¹⁷ Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon is an honorary chair of New Climate Economy. ¹⁸

Mari Elka Pangestu is former co-chair of the New Climate Economy’s governing body, the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. She is also a board member at the World Resources Institute, and managing director of Development Policy and Partnerships at the World Bank. ¹⁹

Sharan Burrow is the former co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate and is the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. ²⁰

Helen Mountford is the former program director of Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, and the former vice president of climate and economics at World Resources Institute. She is also president and CEO of ClimateWorks Foundation. ²¹

1. “Institutional and Economic Restoration in Africa.” World Resources Institute. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.wri.org/wri-africa/institutional-economic-transformation#:~:text=New%20Climate%20Economy,-New%20Climate%20Economy&text=Through%20economic%20modeling%2C%20policy%20analysis,NCE%20in%20Ethiopia%20and%20Nigeria.
2.  “About.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://newclimateeconomy.net/content/about
3. “About.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://newclimateeconomy.net/content/about
4. “About.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://newclimateeconomy.net/content/about
5. “The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://newclimateeconomy.net/Downloaded_Pdf/Global_report/2016/The-Sustainable-Infrastructure-Imperative/Global-Report-and-Sections/NCE_2016Report.pdf
6. “The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://newclimateeconomy.net/Downloaded_Pdf/Global_report/2016/The-Sustainable-Infrastructure-Imperative/Global-Report-and-Sections/NCE_2016Report.pdf
7. “The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://newclimateeconomy.net/Downloaded_Pdf/Global_report/2016/The-Sustainable-Infrastructure-Imperative/Global-Report-and-Sections/NCE_2016Report.pdf
8.  Okonjo-Iweala, Ngozi. “Carbon Pricing Should Drive African Development Not Hinder It.” Financial Times. April 10, 2019.Accessed July 25, 2023.  https://www.ft.com/content/8b028674-59fb-11e9-939a-341f5ada9d40
9. “Africa’s New Climate Economy.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://newclimateeconomy.report/workingpapers/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/11/Africa_NCE_2016_final_1.pdf
10. “Africa’s New Climate Economy.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://newclimateeconomy.report/workingpapers/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/11/Africa_NCE_2016_final_1.pdf
11. “Institutional and Economic Restoration in Africa.” World Resources Institute. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.wri.org/wri-africa/institutional-economic-transformation#:~:text=New%20Climate%20Economy,-New%20Climate%20Economy&text=Through%20economic%20modeling%2C%20policy%20analysis,NCE%20in%20Ethiopia%20and%20Nigeria.
12. “Our History.” FOLU. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.foodandlandusecoalition.org/our-history/
13. “Critical Transition 5: Diversifying Sources of Protein.” FOLU. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.foodandlandusecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Critical-Transitions-5-Diversifying-Protein-Supply.pdf
14. “Positive Tipping Points for Healthier Diets and Diversified Protein Supply.” FOLU. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.foodandlandusecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Positive-Tipping-Points-for-Healthier-Diets-and-Diversified-Protein-Supply.pdf
15. “Coalition Members.” Coalition for Urban Transitions. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://urbantransitions.global/en/about-the-coalition/coalition-members/
16.  “Seizing the Urban Opportunity.” Coalition for Urban Transitions. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://urbantransitions.global/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Seizing_the_Urban_Opportunity_WEB-1.pdf
17. “Institutional and Economic Restoration in Africa.” World Resources Institute. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.wri.org/wri-africa/institutional-economic-transformation#:~:text=New%20Climate%20Economy,-New%20Climate%20Economy&text=Through%20economic%20modeling%2C%20policy%20analysis,NCE%20in%20Ethiopia%20and%20Nigeria.
18. “About.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://newclimateeconomy.net/content/about
19. “Mari Elka Pangestu.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://newclimateeconomy.net/about/members-global-commission/mari-elka-pangestu
20. “Sharan Burrow.” New Climate Economy. Accessed July 25, 2023.  https://newclimateeconomy.net/about/global-commission/sharan-burrow
21. “Helen Mountford.” ClimateWorks. Accessed July 25, 2023.  https://www.climateworks.org/people/helen-mountford/