Green Ideology Index (GII) WIP

This index will map out, describe and explain all 17 major contemporary "green" ideologies, i.e. ideologies that support the protection of the environment as one of the major tenets in their beliefs. The list will be given in no particular order.

Environmentalism

Environmentalism is the primary ideology that drives the ecological movement. The major tenet that environmentalism espouses is the protection of the environment, obviously. As such, it is a very broad encompassing ideology that is compatible with most ideologies, all the way from communism to fascism. Besides environmental protection, it doesn't really specify anything else that it supports. It is implemented in a variety of countries, such as Iceland, which gets almost 100% of its power renewably and has a good track record for environmental protection. New Zealand and Sweden are also examples of environmentalist countries, given that they both get a large amount of their power renewably and have strong environmental laws.

Green Politics

Green politics, as the name suggests, is basically a more politically charged version of environmentalism that has more finite political positions. Along with supporting protecting the environment, it also supports non-violence, equal rights, grassroots democracy etc. The ideology has inspired parties to form across the world with similar platforms, with considerable electoral success (Green-Left Movement of Iceland, Green Party of New Zealand, Green Party of Sweden, Alliance 90s-The Greens in Germany are some examples of considerably successful "green parties").

Green Liberalism

Green liberalism is an ideology that supports strong social liberties with environmental protection. It does not support directly mandating people change their way of life to protect the environment, rather it instead supports regulating pollution, establishing better green areas, encouraging recycling etc. Some prominent "green liberal" parties are the Green League of Finland and Politics Can be Different of Hungary, which see relatively large electoral support.

Eco-Communism/Eco-Marxism

Eco-Communism, or more commonly known as eco-marxism, is an ideology that combines environmentalism with the ideology and doctrine of Karl Marx, or the broader communist movement. It believes that a communist society is the only way to achieve true environmental sustainability because it gets rid of the ideas of materialism and consumerism. While it hasn't really been implemented anywhere, it has been gaining traction as an alternative to eco-socialism. Still, it remains a relatively niche ideology.

Eco-Socialism

Eco-socialism is an ideology that combines socialism with environmentalism. It believes that the only way to achieve sustainability is through socialism and government control of the economy to protect the environment, and that capitalism is inherently anti-environmentalist. It also supports alter-globalization and social justice. The ideology enjoys quite a large support base in mainstream politics, and many parties identify as eco-socialist, such as the US Green Party, Antarsya in Greece, Green-Left Coalition of Croatia, the Italian Left, Red-Green Alliance of Denmark and Socialism and Liberty Party of Brazil, just to name a few.

Eco-Social Democracy

Eco-Social democracy is an ideology that combines environmentalism with social democracy, and is mostly seen as a more moderate version of eco-socialism. The main tenets of eco-social democracy are state intervention within in a capitalist economy to protect the environment and consumers. Eco-social democracy is practiced widely in Nordic countries and other European countries, and enjoys status as a considerably well-known contemporary ideology.

Green Conservatism

Green conservatism is an ideology that combines environmentalism with conservatism. Green conservatism often supports a measured, incremental response to the climate crisis and environmental protection, such as introducing environmental protections over a period of time and is often less ambitious in it's plans for environmental protections. Green conservatism does enjoy broad support in a variety of countries, such as Canada where former Prime Minister Stephen Harper was a prominent member of the movement, even if he rejected environmentalism later in his career. Other prominent green conservatives are Winfred Krietschmann, the Minister President of the German state of Baden-Wurttemburg, Jobikk, the major opposition party in Hungary and former Prime Minister of the UK David Cameron, though it is debatable how "green" his conservatism was.

Radical Environmentalism

Radical environmentalism is a radical form of environmentalism that seeks to radically alter how society runs in order to protect the environment. It believes that the current way the world runs is very harmful to the environment, and that changing the fundamentals of society to increase sustainability is the only way to save it. As such, it would support sweeping protections of natural areas, strong regulations on industry and changing how industries run to better suit the environment and banning fossil fuels. Because it is a decently niche ideology, it does not enjoy broad support in contemporary society, however one could say that Bhutan uses a form of radical environmentalism, as they are going to be one of the first countries to have net zero carbon emissions by 2030, along with Iceland.

Anarcho-Primitivism

Green Anarchism

Green anarchism is an ideology believes the only way to protect the environment is through an anarchist society, and believes that anarchism and environmentalism are mutually inclusive. It aims to bring about an anarchist society that is environmentally sustainable. while green anarchism has little contemporary support currently, some prominent green anarchists are John Zersan and Layla Abdel-Rahim, and the ideology itself is similar to anarcho-primitivism, just less skeptical of technology.

Deep Ecology

Deep ecology is an environmental ideology/philosophy that promotes that all living beings have inherent value regardless of their worth to humans, and that human society should be restructured to follow this principle. It believes that human development should not impede or profit off of nature in any way, and that humanity should instead work with nature to develop. It also believes that the living environment and other non-human living beings should be given basic and legal rights to protect them. It can be seen as a more moderate version of anarcho-primitivism. Some notable deep ecologists include: Arne Naess, who is credited with founding the movement and Pentti Linkola.

Eco-Libertarianism

Eco-libertarianism, or green libertarianism, is an ideology that holds the view that the main sector of the economy it should get involved in is the environment and that the main thing the government should legislative on is environmental protection. As such, it would support de-regulating the economy while holding companies accountable for environmental protection. It is a relatively niche ideology, though it has a few modern supporters such as Garvan Walshe, who is credited with being the forefather of the modern eco-libertarian movement.

Eco-Capitalism

Eco-capitalism, or green capitalism, is an ideology that holds the view that the environment and capitalism go hand in hand and that a capitalist economy is best to protect the environment, and that businesses will protect the environment without the need of too much government intervention. As such, it supports environmental motives such as carbon tax and carbon trading to help the environment. Some notable contemporary eco-capitalists are Paul Hawken and Lester Brown.

Eco-Fascism

Eco-fascism is an ideology that supports individuals sacrificing their liberty and interests in favour of protecting the planet. It believes that a dictatorship must be installed to protect the environment and keep humanity from destroying it any further, and that genocide and population control might be necessary to reduce human impact on the planet. It has been associated with some modern terrorist attacks such as the 2019 Christchurch shooting and 2019 El Paso shooting, and it has links to more far-right ideologies such as nazism and the alt-right. Some modern "eco-fascists" (or people who have been considered to be eco-fascists though they deny it themselves) are Garrett Hardin, Pentti Linkola and disputably Ted Kaczynski.

Eco-Feminism

Eco-feminism is an ideology that combines environmentalism with the feminist movement. It emphasizes the similarity between nature and women, such as both nature and women being viewed as property and both of them being viewed as something to be dominated by a man. As such, it believes that both nature and women must not be dominated and they must all be viewed as equals. Some prominent eco-feminists include Charlene Spretnak, Francoise d'Eeaubonne, Adrian Parr and Starhawk.

Social Ecology

Social ecology is an ideology that believes that social and environmental problems are inextricably linked, and is related to both communalism and green anarchism. It supports a decentralized society that is ecologically sustainable that is run by direct democracy in multiple communes. Two major supporters of social ecology are Murray Bookchin (who is credited with being the father of the modern movement) and Abdullah Ocalan (who is credited with being the father of the modern Kurdish nationalist movement and starting an off-branch of the ideology called democratic confederalism). Currently, social ecology is only really somewhat in use in the Rojava region of Syria, though it is also popular in the broader Kurdish nationalist movement.

Bright-Green Environmentalism

Bright green environmentalism is an ideology that holds the belief that technological and social change is the best way to environmental protection and sustainability. It supports making new technologies and investing in technological infrastructure to better protect the environment and learn more about it. It promotes green energy, electric vehicles, bio and nanotechnologies, dense urban settlements and sustainable products. It believes that Earth can hold billions of people as long as technological innovation is sustainable and promotes the protection of the environment, and is opposed to population control. Some notable bright greens include Alex Steffen and Jonathan Bate.