Edinburgh Central sends radical "global climate justice" policy to Labour conference

Submitted by AWL on 9 September, 2021 - 3:32
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Republished from Momentum Internationalists


Edinburgh Central Constituency Labour Party has decided to send the "Global Climate Justice" motion which left activists successfully put forward in Momentum's policy primary to Labour conference (see text below).

Vijay, the the CLP's Political Education Officer and one of its conference delegates, explained why Edinburgh Central wanted to call for democratic public control in the financial sector:

"Regulation simply isn't enough - we need to nationalise the banks and financial sector because we cannot allow that much capital and power to remain in private hands. We must repurpose and redistribute the wealth that exists in society, and that our class creates, for our own benefit; and we must make the use of that wealth subject to democracy and accountability - not the whim of unelected bosses, landlords and shareholders. Only through massive investment and a worker-led just transition will we be able to properly tackle the climate crisis. A publicly owned banking system has been the policy of our CLP since 2018 [see here], and I will be delighted to fight for this in compositing at conference this year, as I fought for the Labour Campaign for Free Movement motion in 2019."

Stephen, another of Edinburgh Central's conference delegates, said:

"Climate change is a crisis that requires radical solutions, and I will be very happy to be arguing for the party to have the confidence to stand up for those radical solutions."


Motion: Global Climate Justice

Conference notes:
• We must keep global temperature rises below 1.5°C.
• The communities hit hardest by climate change contributed least to the problem.
• The UK’s continuing fossil fuel subsidies.

Conference believes:
• We should decarbonise by 2030 with mandatory targets for every
industrial sector.
• The costs must be borne by the rich and the corporations, the benefits shared.
• Debt cancellation is essential to climate justice.

Conference resolves to support:
• Cancellation of low-income country debt held by UK institutions; legislation to prevent prosecutions in UK courts of countries stopping debt payments in order to fund their just transitions.
• Halting fossil fuel subsidies and new licenses, placing the money in a Just Transition fund for decarbonisation, creating good new green jobs.
• Sanctions on big polluters.
• A just transition for workers in high-carbon industries with an offer of training and redeployment into equally good jobs;
• Workers organising to decarbonise industries and the global supply chain
• Campaigning and educating for a Socialist Green New Deal
• All future stimulus and bailout eligibility linked to climate action
and just transition plans.
• Bringing the financial system into democratic public control to fund just transition; regulating private banking and finance for its climate impact.
• Delisting companies failing to protect the environment and uphold human rights in their global supply chains.
• Linking internationally with indigenous groups, trade unions and groups resisting ecological assault.
• Legal recognition of climate refugees’ right to asylum.

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