DiEM25’s Campaign Coordinator Dusan Pajovic appeared on the well-known Upstream podcast to discuss the Green Transition and, specifically, our proposal for a Green New Deal.

The episode focused on what a just Green Transition would look like, taking into consideration various ideas on policy proposals, international campaigns, climate agreements, manifestos, and potential actions that would help to accelerate this shift.

Dusan outlined the three core elements of DiEM25’s Green New Deal for Europe.

“Basically, if I have to put it in short, our Green New Deal is focused on making three bodies, three institutions,” Dusan stated.

“The first would be green public works, the investment plan to power Europe’s green transition and transform its economy along the way.

“The second one would be environmental union, a new regulatory framework for the just transition to align Europe’s laws with the scientific consensus.

“And the third is an environmental justice commission, which would be an independent body to research, monitor and advise EU policy makers to advance the cause of environmental justice across Europe and around the world.”

There is sometimes confusion between the European Commission’s Green Deal and DiEM25’s Green New Deal, something which Dusan clarified.

“Ours is a deal between humanity and nature, and not between politicians and oligarchs. Basically the future is up for grabs and we need to seize it before it is too late.

“The European Commission, when they created the term ‘Green Deal’, they erased all the meaning from our Green New Deal – when they stole the term to be more specific – and they had at least the decency to drop the word ‘new’ from it, because it is not new, nor is it ‘green’.

“As for the word ‘deal’, we can only understand it as a tribute to the backroom dealings between Brussels career politicians and well-paid lobbyists who brought this disastrous plan to life.

“If we don’t have DiEMers and other progressive people in parliament there is not a bright time waiting ahead of us.”

What is Upstream?

Upstream is a podcast that offers a quarterly documentary series and a bi-monthly In Conversation series exploring a wide variety of themes pertaining to economics — from an anti-capitalist perspective.

You can listen to the full podcast here.

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