There is enough money in the world both to stop climate breakdown and meet all human needs. But it tends to be in the wrong hands, or is spent on the wrong things.
In recent years, however, it’s been shown that huge sums of money can be found by governments overnight, or created, when they think something is important enough. Once hard-set policies can change just as quickly. Both happened after the banking crisis of 2007-2008, with trillions, globally, used to stimulate economies and save the financial system.
Innovative ways are emerging everywhere to fund fair and rapid low-carbon transition. From bond issues for community-based, small- and medium-scale renewable energy projects, to new financial institutions to support new large-scale, low-carbon infrastructure, people are finding the money to make rapid transition possible. More and faster is needed, and how it should be directed is a crucial question for all, but momentum is growing.
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Story of change
Transition Towns – the quiet, networked revolutionThe Transition Network began in 2006 in the small rural UK town of Totnes, Devon. It was initially a response to the twin threats of climate change and peak...
Story of change
The Rise and Rise of Green BondsIn 2013, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) packaged and issued a new financial instrument – a so called “green bond” – which was identical...
Story of change
The New Deal and a Green New Deal – turning economic and environmental disasters into an opportunity for national, public renewalA proposal for a Green New Deal from the dynamic new Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become a rallying point for progressive politics...
Story of change
The Medellin miracleIn the early 1990s Medellín, the second largest city in Colombia, was the most violent city in the world. The homicide rate reached an unprecedented and...
Commentary
The business of rapid transitionBusiness represents the great paradox of rapid transition. On the one hand, much is expected of business in terms of technological innovation, new models of...
Story of change
The ‘instant’ local economy – how communities saved themselves when mainstream economics failed in ArgentinaArgentina is again in the grips of an economic crisis – with debt and default with the International Monetary Fund looming over the country. It all seems...
Story of change
New money meets the cost of change: how local currencies save economies and communities, and help them flourishIn times of crisis and other upheavals, local communities have discovered that one answer to being failed by the mainstream economy is to print your own...
Story of change
Migrants welcome – how international hospitality in a warming world benefits everyoneMany millions more people will be forced to flee their homes in a world experiencing climate breakdown. Some will move within national borders, many others...
Resource
Lessons from Lockdown: Living with less stuffDuring lockdown many people have adapted to create new, different, ways of living that turned out to be less wasteful, more thoughtful and kinder on our...
