This report was on the web site of Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West of England, this week:

As G7 leaders agree a transition away from a fossil fuel economy and the divestment movement gains momentum, Green MEP Molly Scott Cato is launching a new report that will detail how ‘green money' can help Europe transition to a sustainable economy.

The report, to be launched in the European Parliament on Wednesday [1] will argue for a policy of ‘green quantitative easing' which is seen as a practical plan to address the twin crises of climate destabilisation and the after-effects of the 2008 financial crisis. Green QE works in a similar way to conventional QE. It is a mechanism whereby a central bank creates new money to pump into the economy. The difference is that the money created in Green QE is used specifically to boost the green sectors of the economy with the aim of building a more stable, secure, and prosperous Europe. Molly Scott Cato, an economist who is a member of the economics committee in the Parliament, said:

“Quantitative easing to date has simply further benefited wealthy elites. But QE is just a technique to create money and we need to reclaim it for the common good. We need the money we create to be invested in a future we want to see. So, for example, we need to invest in energy from safe, clean renewable sources and provide safe clean homes for all the citizens of our continent. This public investment will create jobs for the thousands of unemployed across our continent while simultaneously building up our green infrastructure.”

Speakers at the launch will include Miguel Gil-Tertre, from the cabinet of Commissioner Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, and Victor Anderson, author of the report and Visiting Professor at the Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Mr Anderson said:

“The industrial revolution brought in an economy based on fossil fuels. Now the climate crisis is forcing us to move on again. EU governments should be urgently examining every type of policy that could be used to help in this low-carbon green revolution. Green quantitative easing deserves to be near the top of their action list.”

Unsurprisingly I agree.

My work is quoted in the report.