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Putting People at the Heart of the Green Transition

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Putting People at the Heart of the Green Transition PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF THE GREEN TRANSITION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH 2 PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF THE GREEN TRANSITION PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF THE GREEN TRANSITION 1 About IPPR IPPR, the Institute for Public Policy Research, is the UK’s leading progressive think tank. Our primary purpose is to CONTENTS conduct and promote research into, and the education of the public in, the economic, social and political sciences, science and technology, the voluntary sector and social enterprise, public services, and industry and commerce. INTRODUCTION THE BENEFITS FOR PEOPLE 30 Other purposes include to advance physical and mental health, the efficiency of public services and environmental FOREWORD 4 IMPROVING WELL-BEING AND QUALITY OF LIFE 32 protection or improvement; and to relieve poverty, COLIN HINES ......................................... 34 unemployment, or those in need by reason of youth, age, VISION 8 ill-health, disability, financial hardship, or other disadvantage. ED MILIBAND, CAROLINE LUCAS FARHANA YAMIN .................................... 36 AND LAURA SANDYS ................................ 10 TONY JUNIPER....................................... 38 About WWF CHARLOTTE HARTLEY .............................. 12 WWF is one of the world’s largest independent conservation organisations, active in nearly 100 countries. Our BARONESS BROWN ................................. 14 BUILDING THE BUSINESSES OF THE FUTURE 40 supporters – more than five million of them – are helping BETH FARHAT AND PAUL NOWAK .................. 42 us restore nature and tackle some of the main causes of nature’s decline, particularly the food system and climate INVESTING IN ECONOMIC PROSPERITY 16 RICHARD UNSWORTH ............................... 44 change. We want a world with thriving habitats and MARIANNA MAZZUCATO ........................... 20 IAN CHESHIRE ........................................ 46 species, and we want to change hearts and minds so it becomes unacceptable to overuse our planet’s resources. DIMITRI ZENGHELIS ................................. 22 MINETTE BATTERS ................................. 48 ANN PETTIFOR ...................................... 24 STEVE WAYGOOD ................................... 26 EMPOWERING PLACES 50 JON WILLIAMS ...................................... 28 SOPHIE HOWE ....................................... 52 SADIQ KHAN ......................................... 54 ANDY STREET ....................................... 56 SOPHIE SLEAMAN AND AARON SMITH ............ 58 CONCLUSION 60 ED MILIBAND, SADIQ KHAN COLIN HINES CAROLINE LUCAS Sadiq is the Mayor of IAN CHESHIRE Colin is the convenor of the original Green New Deal London and former group founded in 2008. He was previously coordinator AND LAURA SANDYS MP for Tooting. Chairman of Barclays UK, of Greenpeace International’s Economics unit. Ian won the 2012 Guardian Ed, Caroline and Laura are LAURA SANDYS Sustainable Business Leader cross-party co-chairs of of the Year award for his the IPPR Environmental work with B&Q. In 2014 he Justice Commission, was knighted for his services bringing together leading JON WILLIAMS to business, sustainability figures to examine the and the environment. As a Partner in Sustainability and Climate Change at current challenges facing PwC, Jon offers strategy and risk management related the UK economy. to climate change to clients. He also co-chairs a Carbon Markets and Investors Association working group. CAROLINE LUCAS ED MILIBAND CHARLOTTE HARTLEY BARONESS BROWN Charlotte works at Pale TONY JUNIPER SOPHIE SLEEMAN Blue Dot and is a member A crossbench member of the A member of the original of the Just Transition House of Lords, Baroness AND AARON SMITH Green New Deal group, Tony Commission, advising on a Brown is Chair of the SOPHIE SLEEMAN is the Chairman of Natural Sophie and Aaron are Scottish net zero economy Adaptation Sub-Committee England, an advisory body organisers with UK Student that is fair and equitable. in the Committee on Climate to the UK Government Climate Network, fighting for She is also a Trustee of Change. She is present Chair on the health, enjoyment, ambitious action on climate the Board at 2050 Climate of the Carbon Trust, a global sustainable use of nature change through the Youth Group, an organisation organisation driving towards and landscapes in England. Strike 4 Climate movement. empowering young people a low-carbon economy. to lead on climate change. AARON SMITH BETH FARHAT AND SOPHIE HOWE PAUL NOWAK MARIANA Sophie is the first Future Beth and Paul are the Trade DIMITRI ZENGHELIS Generations Commissioner Union Congress Northern MAZZUCATO Dimitri currently advises for Wales. and Deputy General Mariana is the founder the Mayor of London Secretaries respectively. and director of the and the UK Committee University College London on Climate Change. He Institute for Innovation is the former Head of and Public Purpose. She Policy at LSE’s Grantham ANDY STREET RICHARD UNSWORTH is on the UN Committee Institute, and a lead author Andy is Mayor of the Richard is a Founding for Development Policy. on the Stern Review. West Midlands, having Director of Project Seagrass formerly been Managing and Vice-President of the Director of John Lewis. World Seagrass Association. PAUL NOWAK BETH FARHAT STEVE WAYGOOD ANN PETTIFOR Steve is the Chief Responsible FARHANA YAMIN Investment Officer for MINETTE BATTERS Ann is director of the Policy Aviva, responsible for Farhana is an environmental Minette is president of Research in Macroeconomics environmental social and lawyer who has advised leaders the National Farmers’ network. She is a member corporate governance. and countries on climate Union and leads on of the group originally He is a member of the change and development. She environmental and animal publishing the Green Financial Stability Board is the founder of Track 0 and an welfare policy for the NFU. New Deal in 2008. Taskforce on Climate Related activist with Extinction Rebellion. Financial Disclosure and the UK Green Taskforce. 4 GND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP ESSAYS 5 WHAT IS NEEDED NOW IS A SIGNIFICANT POLICY RESPONSE AND THE REQUISITE FOREWORD RESOURCES, TO BEGIN TURNING THE TIDE ON There is a growing political and public consensus on the THE CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CRISES need for rapid action, at scale, to tackle the climate and environmental crises. The UK parliament, the Scottish and Welsh governments and more than half of all local authorities across the UK1 have declared climate emergencies. The UK, Scottish and Welsh governments have also committed to a net-zero emissions target as recommended by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). The 25 Year Environment Plan committed this generation to becoming the first to leave the environment in a better state than it found it, and to reversing declines in nature in the UK. But targets and declarations, although welcome, are nothing without action: what is needed now is a significant policy response and the requisite resources to begin turning the tide. So far only Scotland is acting, launching a Green New Deal investment package of £3 billion to be delivered by the Scottish National Investment Bank. As a result, there are an increasing number of advocates for a just transition with debate convening around the need for some kind of Green New Deal for the rest of the UK. While there is a wide spectrum of views about what this should involve, what is crucial is the explicit requirement to tackle environmental crises in a way that increases prosperity and reduces economic and social inequalities. In this collection, we don’t seek to define the boundaries of a Green New Deal but instead to provide some different perspectives on how we could increase speed and scale of delivery, maximise the benefits for the UK, and galvanise broad public support. Certainly, the terms ‘Green New Deal’ and ‘just transition’ are currently more associated with the left, but the UK’s tradition of cross-party support for climate commitments and reversing declines in nature should mean proposals for delivering these environmental objectives fairly is of interest to all parties. This is especially true when we consider the investment and policy to deliver on our environmental commitments will no longer simply happen in the background through the decarbonisation of the energy sector, practically invisible to most of the public and consumers, but will instead mean changes that will affect people’s everyday lives. There will be changes to industry, food, land use, transport, housing and planning, right across the policy agenda in a way all voters will see and feel. It’s important for any government to manage how those changes affect the people and the communities most impacted, but we shouldn’t forget that, in aggregate, the benefits to greening our economy far outweigh the costs. We need to make sure all parts of the country and segments of society benefit from lower bills, improvements in health, better quality of life and access to new economic opportunities that will result from the investment and policy package proposed. This collection is designed to bring two new things into the discussion about a just transition and a Green New Deal. First, it gives a platform to a varied set of voices from various political traditions, businesses, workers and young people who haven’t © XINHUA NEWS AGENCY / ZHAO HANRONG / GETTY IMAGES 1 www.climateemergency.uk/blog/half-of-uk-local-authorities-declare-a-climate-emergency-in-just-eight-months/ 6 PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF THE GREEN TRANSITION
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