A new international alliance of politicians is urging all world leaders to join them in working to craft a “global green deal” ahead of this year’s United Nations climate conference, COP 26, convening in Glasgow in November.
The Global Alliance for a Green New Deal wants governments to truly put their shoulders to the wheel to “build back better,” while collaborating on “global vaccine access for COVID and debt restructuring for the world’s poorest nations,” writes The Guardian. The group includes several UK politicians, as well as “representatives in Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the U.S., among other countries.”
The Alliance hopes to become a conduit for sharing best practices, with members learning about the nuts and bolts of various initiatives in other countries, such as the details behind Costa Rica’s recently-announced decarbonization plan.
To date, there has been a dismal failure to build back anything but the literally toxic status quo, reports The Guardian. Research from Vivid Economics suggests a mere 10% of the US$17 trillion spent on economic recovery so far has gone to projects geared either to reducing emissions or restoring the natural world. Compare that to the cool $3 trillion received by fossil companies.
Costa Rican congressperson Paola Vega told The Guardian the Alliance is seeking radical and restorative change through radical and restorative collective action.
“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.”
