Green Politics

Green politics is a political ideology that puts ecology and the long-term health of the planet at the center of public life. Greens argue that economic growth, consumption and industry must stay within the limits of nature. Unlike a single-issue environmental campaign, green politics offers a broad program that also covers democracy, social justice, peace and personal freedoms. It is usually placed on the left of the political spectrum, although Greens often say their politics go beyond left and right.

Green politics grew out of the environmental, peace, anti-nuclear and student movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Books such as E. F. Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful in 1973 questioned the goal of endless growth, and the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess developed the idea of deep ecology. The United Tasmania Group, formed in Australia in 1972, is often described as the world's first green party, and the Values Party in New Zealand followed soon after. In West Germany, the Greens organized at the end of the 1970s and entered the national parliament in 1983, with Petra Kelly as one of their best known early leaders. The American thinker Murray Bookchin linked ecology with radical democracy. In 2001, green parties from many countries adopted the Global Greens Charter, which lists ecological wisdom, social justice, participatory democracy, nonviolence, sustainability and respect for diversity as shared principles.

Within green parties, there has long been a debate between pragmatists, who want to join coalitions and pass reforms, and fundamentalists, who want to keep a purer program outside the system. In Germany these camps were called Realos and Fundis. Eco-socialists combine green ideas with socialist economics, while green liberals and eco-capitalists prefer market tools such as carbon pricing. Deep green or dark green thinkers call for a basic change in how humans relate to nature, while light green approaches seek cleaner technology within the current economy. Degrowth supporters argue that rich countries should reduce total production and consumption.

Critics on the right argue that green policies raise energy prices, limit economic growth, cost jobs in industries such as mining and manufacturing, and give the state too much control over daily life. Some market-oriented critics argue that innovation and economic growth will solve environmental problems more effectively than regulation. Critics on the left argue that some green parties focus on middle-class concerns and accept market solutions that shift costs onto workers and poorer households. Others point out tensions inside the movement, for example between opposing nuclear power and cutting carbon emissions quickly.

Green parties have joined national governments in countries including Germany, Finland, Ireland, Belgium, Austria and New Zealand, and they hold seats in the European Parliament. In Germany, a coalition that included the Greens from 1998 to 2005 passed laws to phase out nuclear power and to support renewable energy. Ideas promoted by greens, such as emissions trading, recycling laws, renewable energy subsidies and protected natural areas, have been adopted by parties across the spectrum. Green activists have also influenced international climate agreements.