Thread by @pawelwargan

Today, we launch our landmark paper, 'A Blueprint for Europe's Just Transition' — the product of a tremendous amount of work by think tanks, scientists, researchers, activists and labour unions.

The report is here: report.gndforeurope.com. And here are a few of its conclusions:

The climate crisis is deeply linked with the politics of austerity.

The promotion of extractive growth has driven environmental breakdown, and the devotion to budget austerity has constrained Europe’s response to it.

To solve one challenge, then, we need to confront both.

The green transition cannot be funded by taxes that shift the burden of our transition on ordinary people.

In Europe, the @EIB is perfectly placed to raise massive sums of money without raising taxes or breaching the EU's draconian fiscal rules.

We have the tools!

We call on the funds to be invested through a new agency called the Green Public Works.

Like Roosevelt's Public Works Administration, it would supercharge investment in Europe's ailing infrastructure, while supporting a broad economic transformation.

The transformations that are needed to Europe's economy and broad and deep.

As @jasonhickel and @g_kallis argue, a reduction in material throughput is necessary to relieve pressure on natural systems and reduce energy demand — without this, we may not reduce emissions in time.

Lower material production paves the way for social and environmental reproduction to play a greater role in our economies.

Repair, recycling and care — for both people and planet — must finally be recognised as vital economic activities and rewarded accordingly.

While the @gndforeurope will create millions of jobs in infrastructure, retrofitting, rewilding, R&D, etc. — it will also create slack in some industries.

As @w_stronge (@Autonomy_UK) argues, this can be mitigated by introducing a four-day work week without reducing pay.

All public GNDE jobs can be based on a four-day work-week by default.

Private firms can be encouraged to adopt a four-day week, as well as high standards of workplace democracy, by having transition funding tied to stringent criteria for internal transformation.

And, as @NickJacobs11 (@IPESfood) says, we must finally adopt a fairer agricultural policy — one that works for European smallholders without devastating agricultural practices across the Global South.

Our report also calls for the introduction of an Environmental Union — a legislative package that acknowledges climate and environmental emergency and legislates for sustainability and solidarity — and an Environmental Justice Commission to monitor progress in implementation.

These include measures to curb financialisation and rewire prudential rules — as @graceblakeley and @NDentico have called for — and new legislation mandating that European economies operate sustainably, as proposed by @Laurie_L_L (@IPPR).

Our report gives activists and policymakers a toolkit from which they can draw up new laws and demands. It is, as @Noga_LR from @UKSCN1 says, a step towards systems change.

We worked closely with others working on a green transition — @DantonsHead (@Cmmonwealth), @jnoisecat (@DataProgress), @powellds (@NEF) and others — to ensure that the GNDE is also a model for global cooperation.

Here is what @CarolineLucas had to say about our report:

There is so much more to write, but I'll let you read the paper!

Major shoutout to our graphic designer, @daniel_shannon, and our web designer and developer, @bernhardlenger, for their brilliant work on the report.

Link: report.gndforeurope.com

And, of course, my buddy @davidrkadler (@DiEM_25), with whom it's insanely fun to work!