The Welsh government in 2016 enacted the Future Well-being Act which sets out to make Wales a better place to live, bearing in mind the challenges of climate change, poverty, and poor health. “In order to make things better, everyone needs to work together. We need to think about what people want now. But also how that will affects people in the future.”
The act respires the 44 public bodies – including Local Health Boards, Local Authorities, National Park Authorities, Natural Resources Wales, National Library of Wales etc – to work together on all 7 prescribed goals, vis
A globally responsible Wales
A prosperous Wales
A resilient Wales
A healthier Wales
A more equal Wales
A Wales of cohesive communities
A Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language
One of the partner organisations of Earth Overshoot Day is the New Economics Foundation. Here in the UK they are pushing three campaigns that would help create a level playing field:-
“The Great Homes Upgrade is a campaign for a large-scale, UK-wide programme of upgrading our leaky, inefficient homes. It would be funded by the UK government, but managed mainly through local authorities and other local organisations. This would make sure that everyone can make sure their home is well-insulated and heated by clean, green energy — regardless of whether we rent a flat or own a castle. We want the government to commit to bring every home in the UK up to a good standard by 2030 — that means upgrading 7m homes by 2025 and 19m by 2030.”
The Living Income campaign calls for the provision of a universal income with “an ‘income floor’ that is enough to meet life’s essentials, like the weekly shop or an emergency boiler repair, which no one can fall below whether they are in or out of work. The level is based on the independently-assessed Minimum Income Standard, which is also used to determine the real living wage. By setting an ‘income floor’, which is an amount of money no one can fall below whether they are in or out of work, the Living Income provides everyone with peace of mind.”
“We need a plan that ensures that everyone – no matter who and no matter where they are from – has enough to live on, whether they are in or out of work.”
Homes for Us – “A new generation of social homes will help us live, rest and flourish. We all need somewhere to call home – a place to rest, to share with our loved ones, to make a life or watch your kids grow up. But right now many of us can’t afford a decent home. We call on the government to put our interests before those of corporate landlords and developers, and start building the high-quality, genuinely affordable social homes we need.” https://homesforus.org.uk/
The Wellbeing Economy Alliance highlights that a socially and environmentally improved economy can not be introduced without first creating a level playing field: “We don’t leave it to people to fend for themselves or rely on limited redistributive mechanisms, but pre-distribute power, wealth, time, and income so that the heavy lifting is done by the economy itself. Example: social enterprises and businesses owned by their workers, community wealth building and living wage”
It is that lack of a level playing field that leaves people struggling to afford somewhere to live, struggling to gain employment, struggling with ill health – caught in a vicious circle when they cannot afford the time or money to step into a better life. What is true of people is equally true of nations – poor nations struggle with debts, with low incomes and low investment that make improving welfare near impossible.
How often do we look around the world and think, “There must be a better way of doing things!”?
One group, The Wellbeing Economy Alliance, thinks there is:
“A Wellbeing Economy is an economy designed to serve people and the planet, not the other way around. Rather than treating economic growth as an end in and of itself and pursuing it at all costs, a Wellbeing Economy puts our human and planetary needs at the centre of its activities, ensuring that these needs are all equally met, by default. In a Wellbeing Economy, our definition of societal success shifts Beyond GDP growth to delivering shared wellbeing.” https://weall.org/what-is-wellbeing-economy
They suggest, amongst other things, that we need a change of Mindset. From the old way: “The dominant mindset is that there is no alternative to neoliberal capitalism and business as usual” to a new way: “The dominant mindset is that thousands of alternatives for designing economies exist – it is in our power to design economies differently. Economies should have human and environmental wellbeing as their focus. Innovation is the norm.”
If we have a clearer idea of what alternatives are possible, perhaps we can be more effective in making better demands of our politicians – particularly in the run up to elections.
The Green Tau 