A new study published in Cell Reports Sustainability (7/6/24) on the effects of a universal basic income (BI) is based on analysis of 186 countries and is the largest of its kind to date*. It states that providing a BI could boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by US$ 163 trillion while acting to curb environmental degradation. BI could boost global GDP by about 130 per cent. For every dollar invested, approximately US$4 to $7 of economic impacts could be generated……
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020 was a reminder of society’s vulnerability in the face of natural upheavals, leading to widespread unemployment and increased poverty. Simultaneously, human activities have precipitated large-scale environmental degradation and catastrophic climate change. Here, we conduct a global-scale, 186-country analysis examining the potential impact of basic income (BI) as a two-pronged solution to both sustainability and social resilience. We reveal BI’s potential to bolster economies, particularly in times of crisis. To lower the huge barrier imposed by implementation costs, we suggest a diverse array of strategies aimed at financing BI, strategically designed to concurrently alleviate economic insecurity while fostering nature conservation. We suggest that BI implementation is feasible and could be a potent tool in addressing the twin challenges of decreasing worldwide poverty while reducing environmental degradation—a nexus that arguably constitutes the paramount global challenge of our times.
The authors point out that increasing income and financial stability could lead to increased consumption and associated rising greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation generally, unless the basic income were to include putting a price on pollution…..
We posit that BI can be a pivotal instrument in the global pursuit of poverty alleviation and “nature-positive” sustainable development. Crucially, its execution must be designed to yield a dual triumph: assuaging economic insecurity, especially among the world’s low-income populations, while also ensuring intergenerational equity by safeguarding the environment for posterity.
*Previous similar studies were:
Protecting the poor with a carbon tax and an equal per capita dividend, Nature Climate Change, (Nov 21)
TOLL GATES AND MONEY PUMPS: Why carbon taxation could be a simple, fair and transformative policy instrument., Autonomy, (March 2022).