2017-05-01
Gösta Lyngå
The 4th Congress of the Global Greens was joined by almost 2000 Greens from around 100 countries, meeting at an excellent venue in Liverpool, England. During those few days, many inspiring speeches were held at the plenary sessions. There were many parallel sessions: Green Federations met to discuss their projects of collaborative work in the different regions, Global Young Greens met to discuss the future and there were sessions on political issues, on what the world is like and what we as Greens should do about it.
Plenaries
From the plenary speeches, I particularly remember how Christine Milne enthusiastically and accurately described our tasks as Greens and how important our contributions are for the future of the world and the people. Other plenary meetings discussed relevant issues in connection of climate change, agriculture, trade and health in an ever more globalised world.
At the closing plenary, the Congress was unanimous in thanking Margaret Blakers for her tremendous work as the convenor of Global Greens during so many years. Many were wondering how we can possibly manage without her when she resigns as convenor by the end of the year.
Parallel sessions
Most of the over 100 parallel sessions were about how to handle political situations and issues for the future. I particularly remember the following interesting debates.
Proportional Representation
The session about proportional representation revealed how many countries have significantly undemocratic systems. A surprise to me was that in the UK, 24% of the votes have given 100% of the power. From USA we heard the US Greens presidential candidate Jill Stein describe how the current system prevents new parties. A hurdle for Greens in several countries is the system of high fees for entering elections. In Japan candidates have to pay 50,000 euros ($71,000) to enter the poll.
Alternatives to GDP
I had the pleasure of convening a session about measures of what is good for people and the planet. Tim Hollo has already reported in the last issue of Green Magazine how some 50 people from 15 countries discussed options to get away from the GDP mantra about prioritising jobs and growth ahead of the wellbeing of people and the care for the environment. This discussion is being followed up by an international email group and contributions in a common dropbox.
Universal Basic Income
In a world where inequality is increasing in most countries, an economic system including a basic income for all is an idea whose time has come. Tim Hollo convened this discussion about UBI. It was great to hear reports about many successful trials in different countries. Some controversial views were debated and plans were discussed about how to accomplish a future where the wellbeing of all people is the priority.
Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
Experts discussed the future when robots take over many of the jobs that humans have carried out. Robots are helpful, but can we trust them? Will there be privacy issues when cameras are used and information stored? Who is responsible when robots do bad things? Many interesting aspects were discussed about situations to be faced in the future.
Future of Humankind
Dr Amanda Shea Hart from South Australia led a most interesting session about Greens as Change Agents: Enabling Human Behavioural Change for a Sustainable Future. Due to the syndrome of dominant species we behave in a highly destructive way towards animals and nature. Humanity is driven by a feeling of entitlement to planet Earth and the dominant capitalist norms are defined by greed, not need. However, there is still hope because humans are an intelligent and creative species.
Gösta Lynga is a member of the ACT Greens and a former Swedish Greens MP.