Sci&Tech History

Top economists and United Nations leaders are working on a “Green New Deal” to create millions of jobs, revive the world economy, slash poverty and avert environmental disaster, as the financial markets plunge into their deepest crisis since the Great Depression.

The ambitious plan – the start of which will be formally launched in London next week - will call on world leaders, including the new US President, to promote a massive redirection of investment away from the speculation that has caused the bursting “financial and housing bubbles” and into job-creating programmes to restore the natural systems that underpin the world economy.

It aims to convince them that, far from restricting growth, healing the global environment will be a desperately -needed driving force behind it.

The Green Economy Initiative - which will be spearheaded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), headquartered here, and is already being backed by governments – draws its inspiration from Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which ended the 1930s depression and helped set up the world economy for the unprecedented growth of the second half of the 20th century.

The new multimillion dollar initiative – which is being already funded by the German and Norwegian Governments and the European Commission – arises out of a study commissioned by world leaders at the 2006 G8 summit into the economic value of ecosystems. It argues that the world is caught up in not one, but three interlinked crises, with the food and fuel crunches accompanying and intensifying the financial one.

source: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/a-green-new-deal-can-save-the-worlds-economy-says-un-958696.html

The New Deal concept initiated by European countries, United States, and UN reminds me of Post-Crisis New Deal launched by Yudhoyono in mid 2006. Yudhoyono’s New Deal is to create job, reduce poverty and support economic growth. The main difference between Green New Deal and Yudhoyono’s is state involvement in funding Green program. United States elected president, Barack Obama has promised to “strategically invest” $150 billion over 10 years to build a clean-energy economy, one that will create 5 million new green jobs. While in Yudhoyono policy those commitment was absence. The question arose is can these Green New Deal solve the world crisis? Further, how can Indonesia learn from its failure?

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