Build Back Better: Our Common Home Green New Deal

With Robin McAlpine of the CommonWeal

On 07 May 2020, SEDA organised it’s first on-line presentation and discussion, in conjunction with Transition Edinburgh, and invited Robin McAlpine, the lead author of Common Weal’s “Our Common Home’ plan for a just Green New Deal for Scotland. In the words of their briefing:

The Our Common Home project was started because the environmental debate in Scotland has focused on targets and these haven't been followed up with anything like enough planning to explain how the targets will be met. So the £170 billion Common Home Plan is about moving on from debating targets so we can start discussing what we actually need to do.

Its second purpose is to raise awareness of the true scale and cost of the task ahead and to do it quickly. We all need to have a more realistic understanding of how much work and investment is involved.

Finally, the Common Home Plan is a blueprint for action and it would comprehensively address the environmental threats we face. People may want to propose different ways to do some of it – fine. But if targets are to mean anything at all then we need to get on with it – and this (or a competent alternative) is the work we need to get on with.

Over 100 people attended virtually, to listen to Robin, discuss how it could work and what seems to be the ways forward, to actually try to address the big issues of climate change and society at the same time.

You can see all of Robin’s presentation to the followers in the video below, and read the on-line document that records the ideas and feedback of those who attended in the attached document.

This is the first in a series of talks put together by Transition Edinburgh, with various partners. The next is ‘Amsterdam Doughnut City Plan’ on 25 June, with Katherine Trebeck. See Events for more details.

Our Common Home SEDA / Transition Edinburgh Event. Full Report and Participant Ideas / Comments