Convenor's update, Jan 2020

Hope and fear are co-existing poles that loom large at the start of this decade. Both are valid, and both can be sources of change. Finding the right balance is key. As the Green Economy Coalition enters 2020 – and our second decade as a network – we are launching a trilogy of new publications to guide our future action, that aim to strike this balance: an honest assessment of the daunting challenges we face, but without losing hope that a better future is possible.

This trilogy wouldn't be possible without our members and the people's movements they represent. And we're taking their voices inside the halls of power - by launching simultaneously at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and at the Climate & Social Movements symposium in Brussels.

The first of these new products is the 2020 Global Green Economy Barometer, our diagnosis of the state of the global economy. Based on the latest research and broad collaboration, the Barometer lays out sobering evidence of accelerating climate impacts and widening inequality. But it also charts encouraging trends from street movements and people power, to financial policy and green business.

The second is Economic Reform within a Generation, our ten-year strategy which sets out how we intend to step up to the challenge of the brown economy. A major refresh of our organisational structure, vision and planning, the Strategy builds on the lessons of our ten years as a network to create a detailed yet flexible roadmap for effective action.

Finally, we bring the Green Economy Tracker, an interactive online policy tool exploring how different governments are already responding to the green economy challenge. Based on extensive research from in-country experts, the Tracker highlights best-in-class legislation from around the world, identifies gaps in policy implementation, and forms an evolving knowledge platform of green economy in practice.

The Barometer, the Strategy and the Tracker can be read separately, but taken together they form a coherent manifesto: an answer to the frustration and disempowerment that has made necessary change seem distant, confusing, or impossible to grasp.

Looking ahead

At the GEC, we share the prevailing mood, with both hope and fear for the decade ahead; some things will undoubtedly get worse, but some things will be better. This week, we’re in Davos Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, bringing the demands and power of people’s movements and street protests to the heart of global capitalism. In February we shall be in India for our Global Meeting, bringing the perspectives of ordinary people and small businesses to debates on development and sustainability. And in April we shall be in Uganda to spur a real deal for nature – one that works for people too - at the African Forum on Green Economy: Investing in Natural Capital for a Resilient Africa.

2020 will be a defining year of a defining decade. Join the circle. We are stronger together.

Happy new year.

- Oliver