How Green Is Your Candidate? Campaign Group Challenges Candidates' Climate Credentials
The campaign group Labour for a Green New Deal has laid down a challenge to the remaining leadership candidates to prove their climate credentials at a special 'climate hustings' - and they'll be scoring all four on their responses.
LGND to publish scorecards rating every candidate's approach to tackling inequality while addressing the climate and ecological emergency
Candidates asked to answer five key questions on how they will deliver a Green New Deal
Group demands 'climate hustings'
The grassroots campaign group Labour for a Green New Deal (LGND) has today challenged Labour leadership candidates to prove their environmental credentials.
LGND is also asking candidates for detailed answers to five key questions ahead of a series of planned 'scorecards' marking each leadership hopeful across a range of policy areas and testing the depth of their commitment to delivering a Green New Deal.
The scorecards will mark candidates across 10 key areas of a Green New Deal including democratic ownership, migration and universal basic services. They will be assessed on the basis of their manifestos, contributions to hustings, answers to LGND's five key questions and their track records, resulting in an overall score out of 100.
The scorecards will be released shortly after the climate hustings, along with each candidates' full answers to the following key questions:
What does 'just transition' mean to you and how will you plan for a rapid energy transition that works for all?
How will you build on Labour's commitment to a Green Industrial Revolution creating a million new green jobs in new green industries?
How will you extend democratic public ownership and universal basic services across the economy to address economic injustice and rapidly decarbonise?
What proposals do you support to ensure climate justice for people across the world, including those displaced by climate impacts and countries and peoples most affected by climate breakdown?
How will you work with grassroots campaigners, trade unions and local activists to develop Labour's Green New Deal?
The group is also pushing for a 'climate hustings' where candidates would be grilled on the substance of their climate and environmental policies and how they will help working people. These were first introduced during the 2019 General Election, with five party leaders taking part.
Lauren Townsend, Labour for a Green New Deal spokesperson, said:
"Labour's plans for a Green New Deal have the potential to unite all sides of the party's electoral base and to win the next general election"
"This radical agenda to give communities control over their transition to a fairer, more sustainable economy is popular with voters of all backgrounds. It should be central to every leadership contender's campaign"
"We're challenging every candidate to prove their commitment to tackling the twin crises of climate and inequality and subject themselves to real scrutiny on the biggest challenges we face"
Angus Satow, co-founder of Labour for a Green New Deal said: "
It's been great to see leadership candidates emphasise their climate credentials. But Labour members want to see more than warm words - we want a leader committed to a real Green New Deal which expands democratic ownership, takes down the Big Polluters and empowers communities to take control of their own lives. If they want to win, leadership candidates need to demonstrate how they'll make it a reality."
Labour for a Green New Deal is a grassroots campaign which campaigns within and beyond the Labour Party to adopt a transformative Green New Deal to meet the challenges of climate change and inequality. Launched on 22 March 2019, it is comprised of thousands of Labour members, with active local groups spread across the country, from Cornwall to Glasgow, and has already succeeded in changing party policy.
The full list of areas scorecards will mark candidates on:
Working with grassroots movements
Has the candidate committed to working closely with grassroots campaign groups like Labour for a Green New Deal going forward, and how supportive have they been in the past? What are the candidate's plans for building a mass movement with climate justice at its heart?
Local government
Is the candidate committed to developing plans for local Green New Deals including working with local activists, the community organising unit, workers, councillors and Mayors to unleash the potential of local government in tackling the crises of inequality and climate?
Green Jobs & Trade Unions
What is the candidate's track record of organising in and showing solidarity with trade union struggles? How will they work with unions to develop plans for a just transition with a million green jobs and to organise workers to demand these green jobs?
Democratic ownership
Is the candidate committed to expanding democratic public ownership across water, rail, mail, energy (including supply), public transport and broadband? How would their policies empower communities and left-behind areas to take control of their lives?
Decarbonisation
How quickly does the candidate plan to achieve a net-zero economy? How detailed are their commitments to a just energy transition and how far do they consider the impacts of our transition on other countries? What are their plans for taking on the Big Polluter fossil fuel corporations?
Internationalism
Does the candidate recognise Britain's disproportionate historic contribution to climate change and are they prepared to support the transition of countries globally and support Global South struggles for justice and equality accordingly? What is their stance towards COP26 in Glasgow this year?
Migration
What is the candidate's plan for supporting migrants as the climate crisis displaces people? How will they work to ensure the right to move and the right to stay across the world?
Universal services
Is the candidate committed to maintaining or extending Labour's plans for Universal Basic Services? Do they emphasise the importance of offering basic services to eliminate inequality and rapidly decarbonise?
Ecological restoration
What is the candidates approach to nature and diversity crises? How will they use ecological restoration to further decarbonisation? Does the candidate have a plan for decarbonising agriculture while ensuring a just transition for farmers and rural communities?
Communicating the Green New Deal
How effectively does the candidate communicate their climate justice priorities? Can they persuasively get the message across to a variety of audiences? How do they respond to scrutiny at hustings?