What is Green Politics?
Greens argue that the economy sits inside nature and cannot grow forever on a finite planet. Protecting air, water, soil, wildlife and the climate is therefore the first job of politics. Most Greens link this to other values: fairness between rich and poor, democracy that starts in the community, nonviolence, and respect for different people and cultures. Green parties exist in dozens of countries, and green ideas are now argued over by parties of every kind. Inside the movement, people disagree about how far to change the economy, from small tweaks to a very different way of living.
Core beliefs
- Human life depends on a healthy natural world, so its limits must be respected.
- Endless economic growth is neither possible nor a good goal.
- Environmental protection and social justice go together.
- Decisions should be made as close to the people affected as possible.
- Peace, nonviolence and cooperation between countries are essential.
- Nuclear weapons and often nuclear power carry risks that are too large.
History
Modern green politics rose from the protest movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962 warned about pesticides, and the Club of Rome's Limits to Growth in 1972 questioned endless expansion. E. F. Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful followed in 1973, and Arne Naess coined the term deep ecology. The first green parties appeared in 1972, in Tasmania and New Zealand. In West Germany, the Greens formed as a party around 1980 and entered the national parliament in 1983, with Petra Kelly as a leading voice. Murray Bookchin tied ecology to local self-rule. Green parties from around the world signed the Global Greens Charter in 2001.
Variants
Two camps have fought inside many parties. Pragmatists want to join coalitions and pass real laws, while purists prefer to keep a clean program outside government. In Germany they were nicknamed Realos and Fundis. Eco-socialists want a socialist economy. Green liberals prefer market tools, such as carbon prices. Dark greens want a deep change in how people see nature, while light greens trust cleaner technology. Degrowth thinkers say rich countries should make and use less.
Criticisms
Economists on the right say green policies raise costs, cost jobs and cut living standards. Some on the left say green taxes hit poor families hardest and that the movement is a middle-class one. Others charge that Greens oppose useful things such as nuclear power or gene-edited crops, and that some proposals are not workable. Defenders reply that ignoring climate and nature will cost far more in the long run, and that fairness can be built into the policies.
In practice
Green parties have joined governments in a number of countries, mostly in coalitions, and have won seats in many parliaments and in the European Parliament. Their lasting effect is in policy: renewable energy targets, recycling rules, protected land, and carbon pricing. On the 12 axes, they sit near the Cooperation end of Foreign policy and toward Multicultural on Culture, while Technology is mixed, because Greens like renewables but doubt some other new tools.