The Green New Deal Bill
The Green New Deal Bill (formal title The Decarbonisation and Economic Strategy Bill) was tabled by Caroline Lucas MP, working with the Labour MP Clive Lewis. The Bill is the first attempt to legislate for a transformative Green New Deal in the UK.
Based on the principles of justice and equity, the Bill aims to move our economy away from its harmful dependence on carbon at the scale and speed demanded by the science, and to build a society which lives within its ecological limits while at the same time reversing social and economic inequality.
If passed, the Bill would:
- Introduce legally-binding targets to cut emissions, reverse inequality and turn around the degradation of our environment, year-on-year to 2030, maintaining a zero carbon economy after that;
- Change the way the Government manages the economy to enable extensive public and private investment in a Green New Deal;
- Appoint a Green New Deal Commission drawn from across civil society to draw up a comprehensive action plan to transform our energy supply, transport system, farming, buildings and the way we work
The Bill includes measures to:
- Take back control from the markets to open-up opportunities for public-led investment in the Green New Deal;
- Make sure that the government, Treasury, Bank of England and the Debt Management Office cooperate so that the funding required for the Green New Deal will be available at the lowest possible price for society;
- End our fixation on growth and prioritise new measures that help guide us towards improvement in people’s health and well-being, the reduction of inequality, tackling the climate emergency, and the restoration and protection of the natural environment;
- Redistribute democratic power and resources to devolved government and elected mayors, including the power to raise their own green bonds;
- Guarantee climate justice, by ensuring investment across the UK, with a particular focus on de-industrialised areas and among the many communities who have been excluded from full participation in the economy and society;
- Transform our energy supply and transport systems, eliminating greenhouse gas emissions and reducing air pollution;
- Make housing energy-efficient, ensuring all new homes are zero-carbon and meet social need;
- Decarbonise our farming, reducing the ecological damage caused by current methods and improving our food system;
A new report from the Green New Deal Group, The Green New Deal: A Bill to make it happen, is published to coincide with the launch of the Bill.