The monitoring and evaluation of the design, development and implementation of national recovery plans is key to guaranteeing their long-term social, economic and environmental impact.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have put in place programmes to steer the recovery of their economies. In parallel, several tracking initiatives have emerged that aim to monitor and evaluate the design, development and implementation of these National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRPs) at different scales. These tools are essential for stakeholders to identify and compare in a standardised way the shortcomings and/or strengths of the measures and reforms planned by countries to respond to the covid crisis. They, therefore, contribute to strengthening the engagement of non-governmental actors (NGOs, academia, think tanks) in the design and integration of socially inclusive, environmentally friendly and economically viable policies, investments and reforms that truly contribute to a more prosperous society for all.
Based on the information available on the internet, we have compiled a comparative report on nine of the main international initiatives based on their methodology, temporal focus, sectoral perspective, and results. At the monitoring level, most of the trackers analysed, focus on the environmental assessment of recovery plans, with a clear bias towards climate mitigation. Some take into account a broader ecological (biodiversity protection, ecosystem restoration, etc.) or social (gender, equality, employment, etc.) perspective. In general, the initiatives complement each other and provide coherent and useful results. At the content level, current plans are not considered ambitious enough to move towards a truly sustainable and resilient future. At the state level, while most trackers praise the environmental efforts of the Spanish plan and its respect for the principle of “do no significant harm”, the short-term focus of many policies with dubious long-term impacts may compromise the implementation of a structured and inclusive green transition.
Continuous monitoring of both the implementation of the RRPs and the evaluations of each tracker will be necessary in order to assess whether or not the foundations for a green future are really being laid.
The most relevant information on the “España Puede” Plan can be consulted on this website: www.españapuede.eu
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