Resilient response
step change
The green new deal
Around the world governments are intervening in the economy in ways that would have once seemed unimaginable. This blog thread explores the responses to the pandemic emerging around the world, and the policy proposals and practical approaches that might see us emerge, re-set and equipped to respond to the interlinked crises in climate, nature and inequality.
Time for a genuinely civil, civil contingencies response
We know that strong and informed leadership is essential in disaster response. But we also know that local community response, both formal and informal, is the key to protection and recovery. Whether it is a small island state in the South Pacific recovering from a cyclone strike, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, or an inner city neighbourhood rebuilding after a fire atrocity, local communities invariably are the primary responders to disaster. It’s a dynamic recorded by author Rebecca Solnit in her book ‘A Paradise Built in Hell’, which looks at a wide range of historic and contemporary disasters. The degree to which communities succeed reflects how the quality of local relationships, the strength of local economies, the agency, resources and capacities of local people have been enabled to thrive or suppressed.
A plan to survive the economic crisis
Writing for his Tax Research blog, Green New Deal member Richard Murphy sets out a plan for the economic crisis triggered by coronavirus. The draft plan includes measures to safeguard those whose employment has been affected or who are suffering hardship including the cancellation of tax payments to government, legislation to freeze repayments of a range of loans, the cancellation of rent obligations and the nationalisation of utilities. Then, when the immediate crisis has passed – Richard proposes the creation of new commissions to explore a range of areas including the restructuring of the economy, land ownership, work and the transition to a post carbon economy.
The Green Bridge: From Tackling Coronavirus to Tackling Climate Change
Writing for Brave New Europe, Green New Deal Group member Colin Hines makes the case for medium term efforts to tackle coronavirus to act as a ‘green bridge’ for tackling climate change.
“Of course the key question is how can these medium term efforts to deal with the coronavirus be built on and turned into a permanent green bridge towards tackling climate change. The key in the view of the IEA’s executive director Fatih Birol, is for governments to use green investments to help counter the global slowdown. He said “We have an important window of opportunity. Major economies around the world are preparing stimulus packages. A well designed stimulus package could offer economic benefits and facilitate a turnover of energy capital which have huge benefits for the clean energy transition.””
The challenge we are currently facing is unprecedented in its scale, nature and impact. Around the world governments are intervening in the economy in ways that would have once seemed unimaginable. This blog explores the responses to the pandemic emerging around the world, and explores the policy proposals and approaches that might see us emerge, re-set and equipped to respond to the crises in climate, nature and inequality
Green Recovery Bonds: Funding green homes for all
Bringing skills and jobs to all parts of the UK could be achieved by a new proposal from the Green New Deal Group, which calls on the Chancellor Rishi Sunak to unveil a new, market leading ‘Green Recovery Bond’ ISA this summer.
Green stimulus plan could create 1.2m UK jobs in two years, says new research from Green New Deal UK
The Guardian report on new research from Green New Deal UK that shows that every job lost to Covid pandemic could be replaced in upcoming recovery years
The need and opportunity for green recovery & why we need ecological interest rates
Is it possible to imagine a world in which the money system, and the prices placed on money, operate in such a way that they help resize the economy to fit within planetary boundaries? asks Green New Deal Group member, Andrew Simms
It would seem that Green Bonds are in vogue – but we have to get them right
Writing ahead of the Spring budget, Green New Deal Group member Richard Murphy explores what needs to happen to ensure that Green bonds contribute to a Green New Deal. As Richard sets out, if bonds are to be used to fund the recovery three things are essential. First they have to pay an above average rate of interest. Second, they have to be government guaranteed. Third, the link to investment has to be very obvious and real.
A budget for a green recovery: A special session of the APPG on the Green New Deal and the APPG on Limits to Growth
This special meeting, co-hosted by the APPG on the Green New Deal and the APPG on Limits to Growth, ahead of the budget on 3rd March explores a range of the options available to the Chancellor from government borrowing while interest rates are low, to redirecting de-facto subsidies in fossil fuels to a wealth tax and a new green home for the nation’s savings. Chaired by Caroline Lucas MP and Clive Lewis MP with evidence from: Lord Adair Turner, Chair, Energy Transitions Commission, Senior Fellow, Institute for New Economic Thinking; Miatta Fahnbulleh, Chief Executive, New Economics Foundation; Robert Palmer, Executive Director, Tax Justice UK, and; Dr Suzy Morrisey, Wellbeing Economy Alliance, New Zealand, former Policy and Engagement Lead for the Living Standards Framework, NZ Treasury
To save the planet, we need a green new deal
In a letter to the Guardian, Richard Murphy and Colin Hines make the case for a Green New Deal to overcome the social and employment effects of the Covid pandemic. They explain how a multibillion-pound programme to make all of the UK’s 30 million buildings energy efficient could be rolled out in time to act as a global exemplar for Cop26 in Glasgow this November. “Saving for the planet” is also likely to be extremely popular politically, given the growing public support for tackling the climate crisis.