Corporate Knights, a sustainable business magazine, has released a report calling on governments and businesses to follow a green recovery plan for the COVID-19 called The Build Back Better Canada Plan, a news release said.

"As policy-makers design economic recovery plans, they are making decisions that will cast the die of our economy for decades to come," said  the authors of the report, energy systems and public policy experts Ralph Torrie and Céline Bak and Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights. "For this once-in-a-generation investment, it's vital that we look ahead and invest in building an economy that's ready for tomorrow."

The report calls for governments to use this opportunity to boost their economic growth, as well as creating new jobs to make Canadian businesses seen as suppliers instead of buyers.

It proposes to  trigger $681 billion in investments over the next 10 years. The agency believes this will provide $44 billion in energy savings every year for Canadians, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 242 megatonnes per year.

The plan is different from a current government plan because it cracks down more on emissions and targets investments, the release states

"Our proposal is that the Building Back Better Canada Plan would ensure that, starting now, integrated and mutually supportive zero-carbon investment programs support Canada's move to net-zero emissions while delivering strong risk-adjusted returns to Canadians through their savings and pensions" the report states.

The plan recommends several areas of investment, including deep retrofits of both homes and workplaces, as well as increased support  walking and biking, electric vehicles, nature-based climate solutions for forests and farmlands, eliminating carbon emissions from heavy industry and making the country a leading supplier of zero-carbon natural resources and electric vehicle components, the release states.

The report claims that it is essential for the federal government to set forth the right policies to bring about a transition to net-zero carbon emissions.