10 Pillars - The Green New Deal for Europe
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The Green New Deal for Europe
10 PillarsIntroduction
“It’s sloppy to call any + all climate plans
‘Green New Deal’ policies. Green New
Deal policies center jobs + justice in
frontline, working communities as we
transition our economy + infrastructure.
Not all climate policies are the same.”
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
The European Parliament elections elections, several different Europarties
delivered a clear mandate to incoming expressed support for implementing it.
MEPs: confront the climate and ecological
emergencies. But as AOC points out, not every
environmental policy counts as a “Green
Millions of people marched in the streets New Deal.”
of Europe to demand a just transition, and
millions more voted to deliver it. To qualify, environmental policies must
do more than tax and tinker: They must
Europe’s leaders now have an historic transform, creating an economy that is
opportunity to put forward an ambitious more prosperous, more just, and more
and pragmatic plan to transform Europe in sustainable than ever before.
the transition to renewable energy — and
an historic obligation to make it a reality. As the new European Parliament prepares
to take its seat, beware: a Green New Deal
In Europe, as in the US, this plan often goes must live up to these 10 basic pillars — or it
by the name of the Green New Deal. And is not a Green New Deal at all.
in the run-up to the European Parliament
11
Meeting the Scale of the
ChallengePILLAR 1 MEETING THE SCALE OF THE CHALLENGE
The science is clear: We must
limit the global temperature
rise to 1.5 degrees and
reverse the collapse of our
natural systems, or risk it all.
The Green New Deal for Europe meets the need to go beyond small-scale reforms
scale of this challenge, investing at least 5% to initiate a radical transformation of the
of Europe’s GDP each year in the transition American economic system.
to renewable energy, the reversal of
biodiversity loss and other environmental The Green New Deal for Europe brings this
breakdown, and the shared prosperity of ambition across the Atlantic and into the
all European residents. twenty-first century. It calls not only for a
reduction in carbon emissions. It demands
It will build an economy that enables a wholesale transformation of our systems
Europe to flourish while respecting of production, consumption, and social
planetary boundaries, restoring natural relations — rewiring our systems of material
habitats, clean air and soil health around production for reproduction: recycling,
our continent. reuse, repair and care.
Responding to the Great Depression in Nothing short of this ambition can call itself
1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized the a Green New Deal.
32
Pressing Idle Resources into
Public ServicePILLAR 2 PRESSING IDLE RESOURCES INTO PUBLIC SERVICE
The Green New Deal calls
on public institutions to
drive the economic and
social transformation to
confront the climate and
environmental crises.
Like the US one century ago, Europe The proposal calls on the European
remains caught in an extended period of Investment Bank to provide this stimulus by
economic instability. Even in prosperous issuing green investment bonds that can
economies like Germany, precarity is rising deliver a return to Europe’s ailing savers.
and households are struggling to find a
productive place to invest their savings. In other words, the Green New Deal presses
Europe’s idle resources into public service —
The Green New Deal provides the answer. without placing the burden of the transition
on the shoulders of everyday Europeans.
Like the original New Deal, its premise
comes from the work of the economist
John Maynard Keynes, who demonstrated
that a fiscal stimulus can guide economic
recovery.
53 Empowering Citizens & Their Communities
PILLAR 3 EMPOWERING CITIZENS & THEIR COMMUNITIES
Europe’s green transition
will not be top-down. It must
empower citizens and their
communities to make the
decisions that shape their
future.
The Green New Deal is infused with In particular, frontline communities
democracy. It provides clear mechanisms most affected by the climate crisis must
for citizen assemblies and local have adequate resources to redress the
governments to make meaningful degradation of their living conditions.
decisions about the development of their
communities, municipalities, and regions. The democratic principle of the Green New
Deal also applies in the workplace. The jobs
And it ensures that, wherever possible, created by green investment must protect
Europe’s new energy systems are publicly- worker rights and build greater control over
owned and democratically controlled. the firms so workers share in the value they
create.
Like Roosevelt’s Works Progress Agency, the
Green New Deal for Europe will create a
new public body that puts citizens in the
driver’s seat of Europe’s green transition.
74 Guaranteeing Decent Jobs
PILLAR 4 GUARANTEEING DECENT JOBS
The Green New Deal for
Europe provides a decent job
to all those who seek one.
Europe today is mired in a mix of More than that, it will ensure a just
unemployment and underemployment. transition for all workers in high carbon
Precarious jobs are on the rise, and millions industries—promising secure employment,
of people have been forced to leave their well-paid training opportunities and homes
communities in search of jobs that will for all who need them.
support their basic needs.
And the Green New Deal must finally
The Green New Deal will invest in recognise the role of care in our economy,
communities across Europe to ensure that ensuring not only that housework, childcare
green investment creates high quality, and care for the elderly are recognised
skilled and stable jobs that enable all and rewarded, but also that activities
citizens to support their families, leaving no which contribute to the regeneration of our
community behind. natural systems play a central role in our
economy.
95
Raising the Standard
of LivingPILLAR 5 RAISING THE STANDARD OF LIVING
The Green New Deal for
Europe creates public
prosperity in place of
private wealth, substituting
consumption for what
really matters for Europe’s
communities.
The Green New Deal goes well beyond a cost of living for all households.
job guarantee. It raises the standard of By reversing biodiversity loss and
living across our continent in numerous eliminating pollution, the Green New Deal
ways, from investments in health and will allow all communities to enjoy clean air,
education to investments in arts and fresh water, and local nature reserves.
culture.
And by investing in a more sustainable
By reclaiming unused homes for public use, economy, the Green New Deal will reduce
the Green New Deal will address the crisis the number of hours we work each week
of housing insecurity that has left so many and provide more space for community
people homeless or at risk of eviction. engagement.
By rewiring Europe’s energy grids, In the process, it will help build resilience for
retrofitting homes with good insulation, communities at the frontlines of the climate
and providing clean, public transportation and ecological crises.
for all, the Green New Deal will reduce the
116 Entrenching Equality
PILLAR 6 ENTRENCHING EQUALITY
The Green New Deal
combats financialization and
entrenches equality at the
heart of Europe.
Social and economic inequality remains The Green New Deal attacks the forces
far too high — both within countries and of inequality and builds a new society of
between them. solidarity.
Over the last four decades, wealth Just like Roosevelt’s New Deal, the
inequality has dramatically increased programme will overhaul the financial
within European countries: the top 1% system. Rather than privatizing the gains
captured as much economic growth as the from the green transition — as the Juncker
bottom 50%. Plan of 2015 has done — the Green New
Deal will ensure that public investments
Between countries, too, the standard build public wealth.
of living remains extremely uneven,
with significant variations in income, But unlike the original New Deal, the
unemployment rates and pollution. programme will target social barriers,
eradicate discrimination against minorities,
Meanwhile, our societies remain stratified and ensure that the ecological transition is
by race, sexuality, gender, age, and ability, inclusive to all.
creating durable barriers to social justice
and collective well-being.
137 Investing in the Future
PILLAR 7 INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
The Green New Deal is more
than an environmental
adjustment programme. It is
an investment in the future
of our societies, and an
opportunity to reimagine it.
Repairing our environment means government research and funding—from
developing radically new tools: from the internet to touch screens, jet engines to
new modes of public transport and more rockets, GPS to search engine algorithms.
efficient battery storage, to agricultural But the way our economy is structured
practices that revitalise our soil and forestry means that while the state invests in
that replenishes our forests. research and carries all the risk, the private
sector reaps all the rewards—and pays
That is why the Green New Deal for Europe almost no taxes on its profits.
includes a research and development
initiative that can bring together The Green New Deal must ensure
the scientific community to develop that society benefits directly from the
exciting new solutions to climate and investments that it makes in new tools,
environmental breakdown. using the proceeds to invest in further
innovation and deliver on the promise of
Many of our greatest advancements greater social liberation from the working
in technology have happened with week.
158
Ending the Dogma of
Endless GrowthPILLAR 8 ENDING THE DOGMA OF ENDLESS GROWTH
We must abandon GDP
growth as the primary
measure of progress. Instead,
we need to focus on what
matters.
The obsession with economic growth, that we must incorporate into our
as measured by Gross Domestic Product assessment of Europe’s progress.
(GDP), is not only a primary driver of
the climate and environmental crises, The Green New Deal focuses Europe’s
encouraging countries to pursue reckless institutions on stimulating areas of social,
economic policies while ignoring their moral and educational improvement,
environmental and social costs. while designing an economy that
privileges social reproduction over material
It is also a misguided measure of our production.
collective well-being.
Not only does this take pressure off our
The Green New Deal must move beyond living planet, it also makes it possible to
the dogma of endless GDP growth and accomplish the rapid energy transition we
adopt more holistic measures of human need.
progress. Equality, environment, happiness
and health: there are scores of indicators
179 Supporting Climate Justice Around the World
PILLAR 9 SUPPORTING CLIMATE JUSTICE AROUND THE WORLD
The environmental crisis is
global in scope, and the Green
New Deal must be, too.
Europe has an historic responsibility to lead continued extraction of resources from the
this global effort. For over two centuries, Global South. The supply chain for Europe’s
European countries have encouraged energy transition must be committed to
aggressive pollution and resource principles of social and environmental
extraction that have directly harmed other justice.
countries around the world.
Even as we pride ourselves on delivering
The Green New Deal for Europe must aid to the Global South, European
redress this colonial legacy. corporations extract much more in interest
payments, resource theft, and wage
It must redistribute resources to rehabilitate arbitrage. To support a global green
overexploited regions, protect against transition, the Green New Deal must put
rising sea levels, and guarantee a decent an end to these exploitative economic
standard of living to all climate refugees. practices and, at last, respect the rights of
And it must ensure that Europe’s green communities everywhere — paving the way
transition does not simply export pollution for environmental justice around the world.
elsewhere in the world, or rely on the
1910 Committing to Action Today
PILLAR 10 COMMITTING TO ACTION TODAY
The Green New Deal is not
a framework, a treaty, or
an agreement. It is a set of
concrete actions that move
us quickly toward our climate
and ecological goals.
Even if every country in the world fulfilled its a piece of paper signed by participating
commitment to the 2016 Paris Agreement, states. It’s not a multilateral meeting or the
we would be on course for three degrees photo opportunity that always follows.
of warming in this century and untold
suffering as a result. The Green New Deal is a set of specific,
credible measures targeted at every
But no country has even come close to area of society. It is a package of specific
honouring its promises. This is what we measures that: rapidly transitions us
have after nearly 30 years of global to a sustainable economy, pushes our
negotiations under the United Nations democracies to new frontiers, creates
Framework Convention on Climate shared prosperity, and builds a fairer world
Change. beyond our borders.
The Green New Deal graduates us from Nothing less will do.
negotiations to action. It’s not a soft
political commitment for change. It’s not
21AUTHORS ADVISORS
David Adler Renata Avila
Campaign Coordinator, The Green New Executive Director, Ciudadanía
Deal for Europe Inteligente
Policy Coordinator, DiEM25
david.adler@gndforeurope.com Jason Hickel
@davidrkadler Anthropologist, Author and Fellow of the
Royal Society of Arts
Pawel Wargan
Campaign Coordinator, The Green New Laurie Laybourn-Langton
Deal for Europe Associate Fellow, IPPR
pawel.wargan@gndforeurope.com
@pawelwargan Julian NoiseCat
Green New Deal Lead, Data for Progress
@GNDforEurope
#GNDforEurope David Powell
Head of Environment & Green Transition,
www.gndforeurope.com New Economics Foundation
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