 |
Flood damage in Schuld, Germany on Sunday. Ilhan Omar, a US congresswoman for Minnesota, said the recent extreme weather around the world should serve as a warning. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
People around the world need a “global green deal” that would
tackle the climate crisis and restore the natural world as we recover from the
Covid-19 pandemic, a group of politicians from the UK, Europe and developing
countries has said.
The Global Alliance for a Green New Deal is inviting politicians
from legislatures in all countries to work together on policies that would
deliver a just transition to a green
economy ahead of Cop26 UN climate talks in Glasgow this November.
The alliance includes Caroline Lucas, the Green party’s only MP, and Labour’s Clive Lewis, as well as
MEPs, representatives in Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia and the US
among other countries.
Ilhan Omar, a US congresswoman for Minnesota, said the recent
extreme weather in the US and around the world should serve as a warning.
“Climate change is here and it is an existential threat to humanity. We have
already seen the horrifying repercussions of failing to act – wildfires raging across the
west coast [of the US], extreme hurricanes,
heatwaves in Australia, massive flooding around the
world. Natural disasters like these will
only get worse unless we act as a global community to counteract this devastation.”
The alliance wants governments to put measures in place that would
boost the green economy as well as collaborating on global
vaccine access for Covid and debt restructuring for the world’s poorest nations. They will seek to share
knowledge around the world of successful initiatives, such as the
decarbonisation plan recently put forward in Costa Rica.
Many government leaders have promised to “build back better” from the pandemic but few countries are investing in the new
infrastructure needed. Recent research by Vivid Economics found that
only about a tenth of the $17tn being spent globally on rescuing
stricken economies was going on projects that would reduce greenhouse gas
emissions or restore nature.
However, more than $3tn was being poured into measures and
industries that actively harmed the environment, such as coal and other fossil fuels.
Manon Aubry, a French MEP, said governments must focus on social
justice and the climate. “As the consequences of the climate crisis become more
and more alarming, inequalities are growing and the poorest are hit hardest by
the impacts of a changing climate. If we want fair, systematic and effective
climate policies, we need a radical shift away from free trade and free-market
ideology.”
The alliance currently has 21 members from 19 countries. Joenia
Wapichana, the first indigenous woman ever to be elected federal representative
in Brazil, said: “I understand how important it is that we all take
responsibility for a green new deal. That’s why I am joining this alliance – to join forces so my
work in parliament can contribute to the strengthening of the legislative process
in defence of collective rights, the environment and in defence of indigenous
peoples.”
Paola Vega, Costa Rican congresswoman and president of the special
permanent commission for the environment of the legislative assembly of the
Republic of Costa Rica, said a green deal would require a transformation of the
way governments treat ecological problems, and in the way people live.
“Unless our countries, and the diverse alliances and range of
powers that govern them, create enough pressure for collective action that
changes the rules of the game, we will fall short of the urgent measures that
we need to be able to address the massive challenges that we face today,” she
said. “It’s important that we are clear that this means an absolute change of
paradigm: a change in the way we live, the way we consume and produce.”
