Rethinking the green recovery through renewable energy expansion

The world today is facing the worst economic and environmental crises in generations. Hence, we need policies that can stimulate recovery and at the same time reach the sustainability. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP et al., 2008; UNEP, 2009a, 2009b, 2011) and many economists (e.g., Barbier, 2009a, 2009b, 2010; Edenhofer and Stern, 2009; Robins et al., 2009) advocate the need for a 'green recovery'. This concept means that the economic crisis should be grasped by governments as an opportunity to reduce carbon dependency and put economies on a path of 'green growth' by using green stimulus packages. Many papers and international reports advocate that the renewable energy sector is an essential step in the path of green recovery. The main aim of this paper is to review a selection of responses to the double crisis by international institutions and to focus on the achievements made in the renewable energy sector.