Pirate's Cove

The co-founders of Green New Deal UK, Hannah Martin and Fatima Ibrahim, attempt to spin this as a good thing

How a Green New Deal could transform our lives
How do we move from moments to movements? In the midst of an environmental emergency, the co-founders of Green New Deal UK tell Dazed

As an environmental movement, we can agree there is much to worry about. In the ten years since the original Green New Deal was proposed, there has been no real progress on tackling climate change. In 2019, we are facing a period of huge uncertainty; on the horizon could be a no-deal Brexit, a financial crash or yet another General Election. Yet this is also a period of our history where the opportunities for seismic shifts in public opinion are multiplying and the government are feeling the heat. We’ve seen youth strikes take place almost every month since February and many every week across the UK and organising the largest ever UK climate justice protest in September calling for a Green New Deal as the key solution to this emergency.

Wait, I thought the Paris Climate Agreement was historic? No? Anyway, after a bit of fear-mongering and quibbling and yammering (because they want people to get that they’re doomed unless we Do Something, and our lives will be great if we do, before people tune out), we finally get

Because it is interested not purely in carbon targets but in the flourishing of whole communities, the radical idea of a Green New Deal for the UK could be a positive and unifying answer to these crises. The idea of a Green New Deal saw an enormous surge in support last year when progressive U.S. representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez unveiled her radical vision for a just transition. But its roots go back deeper. The Green New Deal is a plan first proposed in 2007, as a collective societal mission to transform our economy. It’s an ambitious ten-year national action plan to tackle climate breakdown in a way that improves peoples’ lives and builds a fairer, more democratic society and economy. It would totally decarbonise the economy of the United Kingdom by creating millions of new well-paid, secure, unionised jobs across the country. By overhauling the finance system and surging investment in green industries, it would make sure we provide healthy and fulfilling livelihoods for all workers and communities, including those in high emissions sectors – often those hit hardest by climate crisis.

So, union jobs backed by government force. Overhauling the finance system? How so? From previous yammerings from climate cultists, we know this means a Socialized system where the government controls the economy. “We provide”? That means government is in control of your life.

At the same time a Green New Deal would transform our economy – with greater democratic participation, accountability and common ownership – empowering communities who are currently marginalised. For any climate solution to be truly holistic we must begin to respect natural ecological limits, for example, rewilding and restoring vital habitats and carbon sinks, including forests and wild areas, and ensure the provision of clean water, air and green spaces.

By “common ownership”, that’s cute Soviet style language for “government control”. The 2nd part is more about moving everyone into urban areas from the suburbs and countryside (easier to control and manage people). Think I’m being overboard? This is what decades of watching the Cult of Climastrology would lead you to, as well. They have ulterior motives.

Finally, a Green New Deal would have global justice at its core, supporting all peoples and countries to decarbonise quickly and fairly, in line with timeframes set out by science. The Green New Deal will ensure the UK does its fair share to tackle climate breakdown – and more – to account for historic emissions and the exploitation of resources and communities, particularly those in the Global South.

Are you getting the idea that this isn’t about climate?