"A Green New Deal" was a report released in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
on 21 July 2008 by the Green New Deal Group and published by the
New Economics Foundation
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a British think-tank that promotes "social, economic and environmental justice".
NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) with the aim of working for a "new model of wealth ...
, which outlines a series of policy proposals to tackle
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, the
current financial crisis, and
peak oil
Peak oil is the hypothetical point in time when the maximum rate of global oil production is reached, after which it is argued that production will begin an irreversible decline. It is related to the distinct concept of oil depletion; while ...
. The report calls for the re-regulation of
finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
and
taxation
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal person, legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regiona ...
, and major government investment in
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
sources. Its full title is: ''A Green New Deal: Joined-up policies to solve the triple crunch of the credit crisis, climate change and high oil prices''.
Recommendations
* Government-led investment in
energy efficiency
Energy efficiency may refer to:
* Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process
** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed
** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...
and
microgeneration
Microgeneration is the small-scale production of heat or electric power from a "low carbon source," as an alternative or supplement to traditional centralized grid-connected power.
Microgeneration technologies include small-scale wind turbin ...
which would make 'every building a powerstation'.
* The creation of thousands of
green jobs
Green jobs (green-collar jobs, sustainability jobs, eco jobs or environmental jobs) are, according to the United Nations Environment Program, "work in agricultural, manufacturing, research and development (R&D), administrative, and serv ...
to enable
low-carbon
A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mi ...
infrastructure reconstruction.
* A
windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies - as has been established in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
- so as to provide revenue for government spending on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
* Developing financial incentives for green investment and reduced energy usage.
* Changes to the UK's financial system, including the reduction of the
Bank of England's interest rate, once again to support green investment.
* Large financial institutions - 'mega banks' - to be broken up into smaller units and
green banking.
* The re-regulation of international finance: ensuring that the financial sector does not dominate the rest of the economy. This would involve the re-introduction of
capital controls
Capital controls are residency-based measures such as transaction taxes, other limits, or outright prohibitions that a nation's government can use to regulate flows from capital markets into and out of the country's capital account. These measures ...
.
* Increased official scrutiny of exotic financial products such as
derivatives
The derivative of a function is the rate of change of the function's output relative to its input value.
Derivative may also refer to:
In mathematics and economics
* Brzozowski derivative in the theory of formal languages
* Formal derivative, an ...
.
* The prevention of corporate tax evasion by demanding financial reporting and by clamping down on
tax havens
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or ...
.
In the UK
Although the politicians have used the term Green New Deal, it remains largely unimplemented in the form that it was originally proposed. Larry Elliott, the Guardian newspaper's economics editor and one of the originators of the idea, wrote in 2020 that perhaps the policy might be first trialled "in one of the UK’s big cities – Manchester or Glasgow, say – to see whether a GND creates jobs, cuts emissions and generates a new wave of profitable environmental innovation".
Authors
The authors of "A Green New Deal" are:
*
Larry Elliott
Larry Elliott is an English journalist and author who focuses on economic issues. He is the economics editor at ''The Guardian'', and has published seven books on related issues, six of them in partnership with Dan Atkinson.
Early life
Elliott ...
, economics editor of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
*
Colin Hines, co-director of ''Finance for the Future''
*
Tony Juniper
Anthony Juniper (born 24 September 1960) is a British campaigner, writer, sustainability advisor and environmentalist who served as Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. He was Vice Chair of Friends ...
, former director of
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with ...
*
Jeremy Leggett
Jeremy Leggett is a British social entrepreneur and writer. He founded and was a board director of Solarcentury from 1997 to 2020, an international solar solutions company, and founded and was chair of SolarAid, a charity funded with 5% of Sola ...
, founder and chairman of
Solarcentury
Solarcentury is the UK's largest solar company.
Solarcentury was founded in 1998 by former oil geologist Jeremy Leggett, and had an annual turnover of £168 million in 2015–16.
The company is in partnership with Panama-based private equity fi ...
and
SolarAid
SolarAid is an international development charity which is working to create a sustainable market for solar lights in Africa. In line with the Sustainable Development Goal 7: "Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy f ...
*
Caroline Lucas
Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-elected ...
,
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Brighton Pavilion
The Royal Pavilion, and surrounding gardens, also known as the Brighton Pavilion, is a Grade I listed former royal residence located in Brighton, England. Beginning in 1787, it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Pri ...
, former leader of the
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...
, and former
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
*
Richard Murphy, co-director of Finance for the Future and director of
Tax Research LLP
*
Ann Pettifor
Ann Pettifor (born February 1947) is a British economist who advises governments and organisations. She has published several books. Her work focuses on the global financial system, sovereign debt restructuring, international finance and sust ...
, former head of the
Jubilee 2000
Jubilee 2000 was an international coalition movement in over 40 countries that called for cancellation of third world debt by the year 2000. This movement coincided with the Great Jubilee, the celebration of the year 2000 in the Roman Catholic C ...
debt relief campaign and campaign director of
Operation Noah
*
Charles Secrett
Charles Secrett is an environmental activist and was head of Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 1993–2003. He is an author and broadcaster on environmental topics.
Secrett was a member of the Labour Government's Comm ...
, advisor on sustainable development, former director of Friends of the Earth
*
Andrew Simms, policy director of the
New Economics Foundation
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a British think-tank that promotes "social, economic and environmental justice".
NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) with the aim of working for a "new model of wealth ...
See also
*
Climate change mitigation
Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing Greenhouse gas emissions, emissions of greenhouse gases or Carbon sink, removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caus ...
*
Green growth
Green growth is a term to describe a hypothetical path of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable. It is based on the understanding that as long as economic growth remains a predominant goal, a decoupling of economic growth from reso ...
*
Politics of global warming
The politics of climate change results from different perspectives on how to respond to climate change. Global warming is driven largely by the emissions of greenhouse gases due to human economic activity, especially the burning of fossil fuel ...
*
Sustainable Development Commission
The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) was a non-departmental public body responsible for advising the UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government, and Northern Ireland Executive on sustainable development.
It was set u ...
References
External links
Full text of ''A Green New Deal'' from the New Economics FoundationThe Green New Deal GroupUNEP Global Green New DealCaroline Lucas on A Green New Deal at the Guardian''A green New Deal: Green, easy and wrong'' article at
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
Support the Green New Deal for EuropeLabour members launch Green New Deal inspired by US activists Author - Matthew Taylor. Published by
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
on 22 March 2019.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green New Deal
Environmental policy
2000s economic history
Low-carbon economy
Climate change mass media