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.
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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
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.””
Cross-party letter urges Chancellor to use budget to show climate leadership ahead of UN climate summit
A cross-party letter, signed by MPs and peers from the Green Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, the SNP and Plaid Cymru, urges the Chancellor to address the climate, ecological and social crises by investing in a Green New Deal, in order to transform almost every aspect of our economy and society. Such a programme of investment, the letter points out, would also fulfil government promises to ‘level up’ the nation.
Green New Deal budget submission 2020: Securing the future
A Green New Deal Group briefing, The Green New Deal: Securing the Future, was sent to the Chancellor ahead of the March 2020 budget, with a letter signed by MPs from all the main opposition parties. As the briefing, written by Green New Deal Group member Richard Murphy sets out, the Green New Deal Group have long argued that it is prudent for government to borrow (by issuing bonds) to invest in the transformation of our infrastructure and businesses while interest rates are low. The briefing shows how such government borrowing could be financed in a way that also creates a safe place for the nation’s pensions and savings, by making simple changes to existing tax incentives
When 14 million homes and businesses switched fuel in less than a decade
In 2019 the UK’s official advisor, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), warned that the nation’s homes were ‘unfit for the challenges of climate change’. Writing for the Rapid Transition Alliance, Green New Deal Group member Andrew Simms explores the switch from ‘town gas’ to ‘natural gas’ to see what lessons we might learn for transforming our homes with a Green New Deal to meet the challenges of climate breakdown.