The Green New Deal: Historical insights and local prospects in the United Kingdom (UK)

This paper provides a detailed review of the basis and prospects for United Kingdom (UK) proposals for the most ambitious mainstream social, economic, and environmental policy program of the 21st century: the Green New Deal (GND), providing critical reflection for its implementation at a local or re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological economics 2023-03, Vol.205, p.107696, Article 107696
Main Authors: Brown, Donal, Brisbois, Marie-Claire, Lacey-Barnacle, Max, Foxon, Tim, Copeland, Claire, Mininni, Giulia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
climate
ecological economics
environmental policy
governance
green infrastructure
Green New Deal
Local Government
Macroeconomic Policy
monetary policy
Multi-Level-Governance
ownership
United Kingdom
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Summary:This paper provides a detailed review of the basis and prospects for United Kingdom (UK) proposals for the most ambitious mainstream social, economic, and environmental policy program of the 21st century: the Green New Deal (GND), providing critical reflection for its implementation at a local or regional level. Through a review of academic, policy and book publications we examine the key proposed features of a UK GND, identifying five core elements: financial reforms; green infrastructure investment; financing the GND; ownership structures; and economic, social and climate justice. We subsequently review these policy areas through the lens of multi-level governance (MLG) to understand what scales of policy action are required for these aims to be achieved. We find that, whilst core elements of a UK GND, such as reforms to the financial system, and expansionary fiscal and monetary policy require policy change at national and supra-national level, the majority of GND investments require implementation at the local level. We suggest that, in the context of contemporary UK MLG, there are challenges for fully funding and delivering a GND without a national programme, while highlighting emerging options for coordinating and implementing a GND by local government actors, in the absence of national support.
ISSN:0921-8009
1873-6106
DOI:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107696