UBI and Climate Change
UBI is widely discussed within the post-growth literature (post-development, degrowth, doughnut economics, steady-state, etc.), and has been for several decades. Echoing claims made by their UBI counterparts, post-growth scholars highlight UBI’s theoretical potential to redistribute social wealth, reduce poverty, increase wellbeing, shift activity from wage-labour to the autonomous sphere, increase social and political participation, and reduce material consumption. However, this progressive vision of UBI’s potential remains under-examined within existing empirical UBI research, which more regularly focuses on the policy’s potential to increase the supply of wage-labour and stimulate economic growth. This thematic of our work aims to begin filling that gap. We are conducting some of the only research anywhere empirically examining links between UBI and climate change and the potential for UBI as a transition policy. We are also bringing scholars working at the intersection of UBI and climate change to map a future research agenda and develop a major proposal. Please contact Sophia Hatzisavvidou and Nick Langridge for further details.
