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Part of the Politics series on Green politics

Topics

Green movement Worldwide green parties

Organizations

Global Greens · Africa · Americas · Asia-Pacific · Europe

Principles

Four Pillars Global Greens Charter: ecological wisdom social justice participatory democracy nonviolence sustainability respect diversity

Issues

List of Green issues Politics Portal ·  v • d • e

"Greens" redirects here. For the vegetables called greens, see Leaf vegetable.

The Green movement is a political movement which advocates goals common to Green parties, including environmentalism, sustainability, nonviolence, and social justice concerns. Supporters of the Green movement, called Greens, adhere to Green ideology and share many ideas with the ecology, conservation, environmental, feminist, and peace movements.

The political term Green, as an adjective, was first applied to supporters of the nascent Green ideology in the late 1970s, as the first local Green parties were founded in various countries. The term political ecology is sometimes used in Europe and in academic circles.

Contents 1 History 2 Local movements 3 Global organization 3.1 Global Green meetings 3.2 Global Greens web site 3.3 Green federations 3.4 Critique of Green networking 4 Currents 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

In March of 1972 the world's first green party, the United Tasmania Group, was formed at a public meeting in Hobart, Australia. At about that same time, in Atlantic Canada, 'the Small party' was formed with similar goals^{[citation needed]}. In May 1972, a meeting at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, launched the Values Party, the world's first countrywide green party to contest Parliamentary seats nationally.^[1] A year later in 1973, Europe's first green party, the UK's Ecology Party, came into existence.

The first successful Green party was the German Greens, who contended in thir first national election in 1980. The German Greens drew support for their opposition to nuclear power, pollution, and the actions of NATO. In the 1983 federal election, the Greens won 27 seats in the Bundestag. It was this party that first coined the term "Green" ("Grün" in German and adopted the sunflower symbol. Most importantly, the German Greens adopted the Four Pillars of the Green Party, a statement of the principles of Green politics which has been repeated by Green parties worldwide.

In Finland, in 1995, the Green League became the first European Green party to form part of a state-level Cabinet. The German Greens followed, forming a government with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (the "Red-Green Alliance") from 1998 to 2005. In 2001, they reached an agreement to end reliance on nuclear power in Germany, and agreed to remain in coalition and support the German government of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in the 2001 Afghan War. This put them at odds with many Greens worldwide but demonstrated also that they were capable of difficult political tradeoffs.

Green ideology emphasizes participatory democracy and the principle of "thinking globally, acting locally. As such, the ideal Green Party is thought to grow from the bottom up, from neighborhood to municipal to (eco-)regional to national levels. The goal is rule by a consensus decision making process. Strong local coalitions are considered a pre-requisite to higher-level electoral breakthroughs. Historically, Green growth has been sparked by a single issue where Greens can bridge the gap to ordinary citizens' concerns. In Germany, for example, the Greens' early opposition to nuclear power won them their first successes in the federal elections.

The basis of unity for the Green movement is adherence to common principles, namely the Four Pillars of the Green Party and the six principles of the Global Greens Charter. Greens' views on other issues may span the left-right political spectrum, ranging from Natural Capitalism to the Gaian Greens with much in between. Many Greens claim that the concepts of "left" and "right" do not apply to them or their views.

There is a growing level of global cooperation between Green parties. Global gatherings of Green Parties now happen. The first Planetary Meeting of Greens was held May 30th-31st, in Rio de Janeiro, immediately preceding the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held there. More than 200 Greens from 28 nations attended. The first formal Global Greens Gathering took place in Canberra, in 2001, with more than 800 Greens from 72 countries in attendance. The next Global Green Gathering will be held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2008

Global Green networking dates back to 1990. Following the Planetary Meeting of Greens in Rio de Janeiro, a Global Green Steering Committee was created, consisting of two seats for each continent. In 1993 this Global Steering Committee met in Mexico City and authorized the creation of a Global Green Network including a Global Green Calendar, Global Green Bulletin, and Global Green Directory. The Directory was issued in several editions in the next years. In 1996, 69 Green Parties from around the world signed a common declaration opposing French nuclear testing in the South Pacific, the first statement of global greens on a current issue. A second statement was issued in December 1997, concerning the Kyoto climate change treaty.^[2]

At the 2001 Canberra Global Gathering delegates for Green Parties from 72 countries decided upon a Global Greens Charter which proposes six key principles. Over time, each Green Party can discuss this and organize itself to approve it, some by using it in the local press, some by translating it for their web site, some by incorporating it into their manifesto, some by incorporating it into their constitution.^[3] This process is taking place gradually, with online dialogue enabling parties to say where they are up to with this process.^[4]

The Gatherings also agree on organizational matters. The first Gathering voted unanimously to set up the Global Green Network (GGN). The GGN is composed of three representatives from each Green Party. A companion organization was set up by the same resolution: Global Green Coordination (GGC). This is composed of three representatives from each Federation (Africa, Europe, The Americas, Asia/Pacific, see below). Discussion of the planned organization took place in several Green Parties prior to the Canberra meeting.^[5] The GGC communicates chiefly by email. Any agreement by it has to be by unanimity of its members. It may identify possible global campaigns to propose to Green Parties world wide. The GGC may endorse statements by individual Green Parties. For example, it endorsed a statement by the US Green Party on the Israel-Palestine conflict.^[6]

Thirdly, Global Green Gatherings are an opportunity for informal networking, from which joint campaigning may arise. For example, a campaign to protect the New Caledonian coral reef, by getting it nominated for World Heritage Status: a joint campaign by the New Caledonia Green Party, New Caldonian indigenous leaders, the French Green Party, and the Australian Greens.^[7] Another example concerns Ingrid Betancourt, the leader of the Green Party in Colombia, the Green Oxygen Party (Partido Verde Oxigeno). Ingrid Betancourt and the party's Campaign Manager, Claire Rojas, were kidnapped by a hard-line faction of FARC on 7 March 2002, while travelling in FARC-controlled territory. Betancourt had spoken at the Canberra Gathering, making many friends. As a result, Green Parties all over the world have organized, pressing their governments to bring pressure to bear. For example, Green Parties in African countries, Austria, Canada, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, France, Scotland, Sweden and other countries have launched campaigns calling for Betancourt's release. Bob Brown, the leader of the Australian Greens, went to Colombia, as did an envoy from the European Federation, Alain Lipietz, who issued a report.^[8]The four Federations of Green Parties issued a message to FARC.^[9] Ingrid Betancourt and Claire Rojas are still prisoners, facing death. However, the efforts of the Green Parties shows their potential to unite and campaign jointly.^[10]

Separately from the Global Green Gatherings, Global Green Meetings take place. For instance, one took place on the fringe of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesberg. Green Parties attended from Australia, Taiwan, Korea, South Africa, Mauritius, Uganda, Cameroon, Republic of Cyprus, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the USA, Mexico and Chile. The Global Green Meeting discussed the situation of Green Parties on the African continent; heard a report from Mike Feinstein, former Mayor of Santa Monica, about setting up a web site of the GGN; discussed procedures for the better working of the GGC; and decided two topics on which the Global Greens could issue statements in the near future: Iraq and the 2003 WTO meeting in Cancun.

The GGC was responsible for creating a Global Greens web site. This web site represents the efforts of the GGC to deepen communication between Green Parties, and to facilitate action on matters of global consequence.

The member parties of the Global Greens (see for details) are organised into four continental federations [11].

• Federation of Green Parties of Africa
• Federation of the Green Parties of the Americas / Federación de los Partidos Verdes de las Américas
• Asia-Pacific Green Network
• European Federation of Green Parties

The European Federation of Green Parties formed itself as the European Green Party on 22 February 2004, in the run-up to European Parliament elections in June, 2004, a further step in trans-national integration.

The disadvantage of global organizing and of the Global Greens Charter is that to impose things from the center does not sit well with the Green way. The Green spirit is about decentralization, localization, and "power to the people". This is more of a valid criticism of the Green Charter than it is of the GGC — since unanimity is always required — or of the GGN, which is limited to coordinating campaigns and campaigning jointly, or of the Global Green Gatherings, since they are merely an opportunity to talk together.

However, in the case of the Charter, it does consist of generalizations, when circumstances are unique. To impose generalizations is seen by many Greens as the root of authoritarianism. However, many Greens accepted a degree of centralisation as part of a process of realpolitik.

A small sample of the factions or tendencies that exist on the movement's fringe — some only in very small numbers:

• Gaian Greens are radical Greens who consider the entire ecosystem to be essentially one body, and who therefore believe that preserving the Earth's ecosystem is the highest possible moral end.

• Deep Greens follow the ascetic ethics of Spinoza, Mohandas Gandhi, and indigenous peoples. They are usually rural people who prefer wild to "tamed" living.^{[citation needed]} Cf. also the ideology of deep ecology.

• Wild Greens are a youth movement of New Zealand Green Party, committed to direct action and taking bodily risks to protect nature.

• Viridian Greens are a more artistic movement in the U.S., originated by science fiction writer Bruce Sterling, and have fewer objections to media or technology.

• Eco-Anarchists (Eco-anarchism, Green anarchism) can also be thought of as greens (but not generally Greens).

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