Shaping an equitable, inclusive and sustainable recovery: A programme for action

There is a widespread and profound realization that the COVID-19 crisis arrived on the back of forces and trends in our societies and economies that were becoming unsustainable — in terms of the environment, distribution and inclusion, and resilience. As the pandemic has exacerbated many of these trends, recovery is set to be unequal across countries primarily because of asymmetrical access to vaccines, as well as the fact that capacity to respond to the crisis has differed enormously across countries.

That the next decade will be decisive was already clear before COVID-19 – but the pandemic has brought home the immediacy of our vulnerability and highlighted the inequities in our system. At the same time, it has also brought hope, an appreciation of solidarity and government acting with strength and at scale.

“Building back better and broader” has become both more urgent and more feasible.

The goal is to recover rapidly and achieve strong long-term growth that’s ecologically sustainable and economically and socially inclusive and resilient. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement provide guideposts, embodying values and principles for the new era. At a time of growing international division and threats to the global order, these themes can and should unify.

The new path doesn’t mean trading prosperity for abstract principles. The perception that the current generation would be asked to somehow pay for its sins has burdened the discussion and weighed down the psychology of change. Quite the contrary: charting a new course will enable more comprehensive use of all assets (human, natural, physical, social) within planetary and societal boundaries. Today’s inequality and market failures mean that capacity, talent and potential resources are wasted, while others are consumed in unsustainable excess. Sustainability, rooted in new technologies and practices, is driving a new industrial revolution.

To “build back better” we need a broad-based recovery that leaves no one behind. We need to build a more resilient, inclusive society. And we need to make our economy grow quickly and sustainably.

We have set out the key elements of this programme in a briefing paper to help frame the debate at the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Sustainable Development Impact Summit. It draws on the reports and work of many others (including a recent report from the London School of Economics for the UK Prime Minister for the 2021 G7). The programme for action includes:

Below, we outline the key elements.

1. Completing the rescue and enabling a broad-based recovery.

To achieve this, we must:

2. Building a better society by investing in people, promoting inclusion and building social capital.

This includes acting along four dimensions:

3. Building a better economy by combining economic growth, climate and biodiversity.

The programme requires we:

These actions should form the basis for a comprehensive policy package that can harness the combined efforts of both the public and private sectors. Action should be coordinated globally, making finance and technology available and accessible to developing countries through international cooperation.