AD says Green New Deal is answer to economic crisis

The right investment in energy, information technology, transport, construction and education could create thousands of jobs, Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola said, explaining the solution of the European Greens to the present economic crisis.

Prof. Cassola said that rather than discussing investment where it was most needed, the European Union wanted to invest in energy companies that did not need the money or pet projects that did not deserve the investment.

He said AD MEPs would emphasise the need for investment in innovative small and medium sized companies because they provided the majority of jobs and could invest in a much more effective way.

The party's candidate for the MEP elections, Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros, pledged to work to put the Green New Deal launched by the European Greens into action and promote policies which would create "green collar" jobs for five million Europeans within five years.

She explained how the Greens would work to mobilise a cohesive strategy for private and public investment in the green economy that would amount to €500 billion, 0.75 per cent of the EU's gross domestic product, to keep energy affordable and to help fight climate change.

The greens are comparing their Green New Deal to "The New Deal" stimulus package launched by former American President Theodore Roosevelt in the wake of the great recession.

Prof. Cassola said the Green New Deal was designed to combat climate change and, at the same time, provide an answer to the economic crisis. It would put the EU at the forefront of the new green industrial revolution.