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CLIMATE-POVERTY-DEVELOPMENT
Economy failing on climate and equality: NGOs
PARIS, Jan 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The world economy is a direct cause of
social breakdown and a key driver of climate change, a green coalition said
Thursday launching the first assessment of how governments are regearing
their economies towards sustainable growth.
The Green Economy Tracker assessed how countries are performing in five
key policy areas, including tackling inequality and prioritising nature in
the face of the systemic risk posed by warming temperatures and rising seas.
“Our global economy is not fit for purpose,” said Oliver Greenfield from
the Green Economy Coalition, speaking on the occasion of the initiative’s
launch in Davos.
“Inequality, poverty, climate change and biodiversity loss are not just
connected. They arise from the same cause: how economies are organised, ruled
and managed.”
The global business elite are gathered in the Swiss alpine resort for the
50th edition of the World Economic Forum, and discussions so far have focused
on the climate.
In its annual Global Risks Report surveying the main preoccupations of
business leaders on the eve of Davos, the WEF said the top five global risks
to the economy were all environmental.
Oxfam on Monday highlighted the growing gulf in wealth, saying that the
number of billionaires had doubled globally and were now richer than 60
percent of the global population combined.
The GEC said governments needed to realise that climate and the economy
were intricately linked, and that action to shore up one would have tangible
benefits on the other.
“Within a generation we need to move to a green and fair economy that
respect’s natures limits and prioritises wellbeing,” said Greenfield.
The tracker put Sweden at the top of countries surveyed for its national
green economy plans, with France coming second.
But it highlighted that “few countries” had yet taken steps to ensure a
fair transition away from fossil fuels for millions of workers whose jobs may
be affected.
“People must see their lives improve — so a just transition is not just
an aspiration,” said Guy Ryder, general secretary of the International Labour
Organization.
“It is a prerequisite to ensure societal and worker support and therefore
success.”
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0809 hrs