Local Economies
WHY LOCAL MATTERS
Our global economy has become too dependent on long, fragile supply chains.
The extended supply chains of the global economy are wasteful in a way we cannot afford in a climate and nature emergency. They are also incredibly vulnerable. These are practical reasons why we need to relocalise our economic systems.
When the world’s ports are at sea level
When I was writing the bioregional economy back in 2011 I looked at a map of the world’s ports. It won’t surprise you to know that they were all at sea level!
I searched the internet for research into this threat to our global supply chains and found nothing. I see that now Lloyds of London have published a Global Maritime Trends 2050 report that notes
40cm
potential sea-level rise highlighted in Lloyd’s Global Maritime Trends 2050
Rotterdam is already under pressure and key global oil terminals will become inoperable by mid-century if we see sea-level rise of 40cm.
THE ALTERNATIVE
Relocalise
What We Can.
There’s a lot of stuff in that book, but perhaps the most important recommendation—or warning really—is about the need to relocalisation production systems to ensure we don’t end up with a food crisis.
TRADE SUBSIDIARITY
I go beyond that to talk about ‘trade subsidiarity’, meaning providing to what we can locally and only looking further afield to find more exotic products.
HOW TRADE USED TO WORK
That is how trade used to work; this trade system is rather designed to maximise profit by exploiting environments and people where they are cheap and selling the products in markets where people are relatively rich.
A GREENER APPROACH
You can find more about a Green approach to trade in the Green Trade for All report produced by the Greens in the European Parliament.
The Bioregional Economy
Land, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
In a world of climate change and declining oil supplies, what is the plan for the provisioning of resources?
Green Trade for All
A Greens/EFA paper
Across the world, trade policy has been politically contested for the most of the last two decades.