Why We Need a Global Green New Deal

In his New Politics article, Ashley Dawson says that “Developing nations have a right to lift their citizens out of poverty,” and with this we entirely agree.  He also says that this is “a prerogative acknowledged in the important Greenhouse Development Rights protocol around which ecological equity activists are beginning to rally,” and on this point we must remain more skeptical.  Most of the grassroots action, as far as we can see, is taking place within the “climate debt” frame, and while the debt approach and the GDRs approach are kissing cousins, they are not identical.

DAWN, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era recently asked, “What are the differences between Greenhouse Development Rights and ecological debt calculations?” It’s a good question, and to see a sketch of the research program we’ve designed to answer it, click Principle-based, comparable Annex 1 targets.  Meanwhile, keep in mind that, as Paddy McCully recently noted in the Huffington Post, the differences aren’t likely to impress Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck.