The growing consensus about the need for greening the economy should give the Croydon Climate Change Commission more confidence in its proposals.
Yesterday’s Guardian
is very useful if we link a number of the news and analysis articles. 700,000
job redundancies are predicted in the coming months. How many can we expect in
Croydon, and in which areas of economic activity? How many businesses are
involved in innovation industrial and technological design and manufacturing
which would be capable of adjusting their activities?
There is growing consensus for greening the world
economy: the International Monetary Fund, a report from the Organisation of
Economic Co-operation and Development, and now the Confederation of British
Industry.
The OECD report calls for a green economy approach
based on the following principles:
· Environmental
sustainability
· Rising
well-being (rather than simply higher incomes)
· Lower
levels of inequality
· More
resilient economies
The CBI calls for creating jobs and saving energy
by retrofitting houses and buildings to more energy efficient, developing
sustainable aviation fuels, and creating a hydrogen economy.
Alternative
Economic Strategy v. Free Market Principles
The
Guardian’s economic expert Larry Elliott points out that the
Government’s economic reaction to the COVID crisis owes ‘more to Tony Benn’s
alternative economic strategy (AES) than to free-market principles.’ He draws
attention to former Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell’’ call for a green
plan based on decarbonisation projects, that was part of the Labour General
Election Manifesto.
Elliott suggests that the way forward ‘is to
harness the best of the market – its ability to adapt and innovate – with the
power of the state in order to bring about economic transformation. Carefully
nurturing the technologies and industries of the future needs to be part of the
mix.’
Whether the Government will go far as far as this
remains to be seen. In March it required BT to fulfil a Universal Service
Obligation to provide everyone with broadband connection. Today’s Guardian exposes the enormous charges BT
is making to isolated customers. This is an example of the failure of many
businesses to be adaptive and innovative. Labour’s election promise
re-broadband connectivity was derided at the time. Yet the COVID crisis has
shown how important broadband connectivity is.
Changes
Needed
If there is to be
partnership between private enterprise and the State then some changes
will be need such as:
· changing
company law to build in the principles of sustainability and greening and
long-term objectives rather than short-term shareholder gain;
· creating
regional economic development structures
that learn the lessons of the problems of those under Labour;
· re-training
redundant workers to have the skills to be employed in green jobs;
· funding
research and development in Universities on green technologies.
Local
Government
The way forward is also going to depend on a
constructive partnership between central and local government, as delivery will
be on the ground. That will require:
(1) Fairer
funding for authorities like Croydon
(2) Meeting
all authorities COVID action costs
(3) Economic
development funding
Surveying
The Local Economy
Although it is facing a drastic financial crisis,
the Council will need to spend money to better understand what is happening to
the local economy.
It should survey every business from the high
street and corner shops to the large employers about how they have been
affected by COVID and the resultant economic recession, how they see their
future economic prospects, and what help they need.
Such a survey should not be simply on-line as most
small businesses will not know about it. They will all need to be visited and
interviewed. This will require a large number of people to undertake it, and
may be something that could be done using students in partnership with Croydon
College, Roehampton and South Bank Universities. If a resurgence of COVID
limits this then businesses could be interviewed over the telephone and via
email.
Supporting
The Unemployed
Having taken part in a Zoom discussion yesterday afternoon,
it is clear that another challenge to be addressed is how can the unemployed be
supported. Many of those living in Croydon will have lost jobs elsewhere in
London and Surrey. Many of those who will have worked in Croydon will live
elsewhere. They will become isolated due to the ending of daily contact with
fellow workers, the fact that unemployment and universal credit is now largely
undertaken on line not at Job Centre offices.
Trade unions nationally will need to find a way of
allowing their unemployed members to remain members and to offer them support
services or encourage them to transfer to Croydon’s Unite Community branch. Large
numbers of the unemployed will not have been trade unions members. How can
these be received and supported?
The Council’s Gateway services and the other
organisations offering welfare rights advice and the food banks will need to work even closer together to support the
unemployed. Is a new welfare rights strategy needed for the Borough?
Strengthening
Croydon Trade Union Organisation
Trade union organisation is also a barrier, in
that there is no means by which the different branches in the same union in the
same Borough can link together to ensure they know what each their problems are
how they can help each other. During the COVID crisis this could be done
through Zoom meetings of branch
officers. Such inter-linking should also mean that the information going into Croydon
TUC will strengthen its role as the co-ordinator of several unions. CTUC should
consider having a public newsletter on the issues it is discusses, the
representations it makes and its activities, and the help different branches
need.
Guardian
articles:
www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/14/uk-autumn-covid-19-redundancies-could-exceed-700000
www.theguardian.com/money/2020/sep/14/bt-broadband-bills-could-reach-100000-for-rural-users
John
McDonnell:
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/john-mcdonnell-calls-marshall-style-22669142
Previous
discussion:
http://historyandsocialaction.blogspot.com/2020/07/can-croydons-economy-survive-covid-19.html
http://historyandsocialaction.blogspot.com/2019/11/labours-solution-to-univiersal.html
