Countries embracing clean power sources bounce back faster from economic crises

The human economy depends on the natural resources that ecosystems provide. These resources affect how well and how fast countries can recover from economic crises. A study co-authored by the CEM’s Kevin McCann analyzed data from 133 economic crisis events in 98 countries over 40 years and found that countries that used a variety of electricity sources took longer to recover from crises, unless they balanced the contribution of each source. The most important factor for economic recovery, however, was the use of renewable energy sources. The researchers found that countries that used mostly renewable energy sources recovered faster from crises, suggesting that renewable energy sources can improve economic resilience and stability. These findings have important implications for global energy policy and show the need to consider both the type and diversity of energy sources in economic models.

Ian Donohue, Luca Coscieme, Gabriel Gellner, Qiang Yang, Andrew L. Jackson, Ida Kubiszewski, Robert Costanza, Kevin S. McCann. Accelerated economic recovery in countries powered by renewables. Ecological Economics, Volume 212 (2023).