Create devolved ‘just transition’ funds
Government should devolve a proportion of its Green New Deal budget to support local just transition plans.
Addressing the ecological emergency can also help address the inequality crisis. Making the Green New Deal fair and driving its benefits into the places that most need them must be an explicit, legislative aim of a Green New Deal. In particular, places should be empowered to find their own routes to transition.
As part of the process of managing industrial change fairly, national government should devolve a proportion of its Green New Deal budget to new combined authorities to support their just transition plans. Of the 2% of GDP for a Green New Deal that the government should commit in its first budget, one-quarter (which would be around £10 billion in 2019/20 terms) should be devolved to regional authorities in the first year, rising to half in year three.
As well as supporting regional capital investment via just transition plans, these funds would include resources for the reskilling of workers and paid time off to retrain, for education and to take part in the just transition process. This idea is based on the German ‘short-time work compensation schemes’ where employers are supported with public funds to avoid unnecessary redundancies by temporarily reducing working hours to meet reduced output requirements, with wages maintained.
Central government must also disaggregate the national carbon budget to regions, which in the first instance would afford more emissions space to places that are currently dependent on higher carbon emissions. All regions would be obliged to reduce emissions in accordance with the national trajectory, but would have autonomy over how they achieved this, within the wider aims of the Green New Deal.
Policy in practice
Projects that demonstrate the benefits or may be helped by polices like this.
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Isle of Ulva
Community campaigners buy their island. -
North West Mutual
Community bank will help local businesses and individuals neglected by mainstream banks. -
Islington Community Wealth Building
Islington, with some of the richest and poorest residents in the country, aims to build a more democratic economy. -
North Ayrshire Community Wealth Building
Scotland’s first community wealth building strategy aims to spread prosperity in an area with historically high poverty rates. -
Preston Community Wealth Building
Preston, recently named the UK's "most improved city", has pioneered more democratic ways to build local wealth. -
Hackney Energy
Hackney Energy works with residents to build community-owned solar power. -
Lilac – Low Impact Living Affordable Community
Lilac is a environmentally-friendly housing co-op with an innovative funding model. -
Eckington Against Fracking
Local residents battle multinational chemicals giant Ineos to prevent fracking. -
Isle of Eigg
Community-owned Eigg has been labelled Britain's most eco-friendly island. -
East End Trades Guild
Alliance of 300 small businesses and independent traders takes on landlords and big business.