Reclaiming the future through democratic green planning.
A New Era of Democratic Planning

The Green Planning Commission is a multi-year initiative from Common Wealth, uniting leading thinkers and actors in policy and politics from across the UK and the US.

We will collaboratively develop policy frameworks and tools for a green democratic economic planning architecture — capable of coordinating investment, production, and provision to deliver decarbonization at the pace and scale that the green transition requires.

Through research, policy design, and convening, we will explore how the US and UK can lead transformative change through democratic planning, ensuring the green transition benefits working people everywhere.

Our work starts from two simple but powerful premises: decarbonization is at once a technical and a political project, and one that requires economic transformation. Achieving a green transition, therefore, will require a shift away from fragmented, market-driven approaches towards public direction, investment, and collective planning.

What We're Building
  • Research on sectoral decarbonization, country deep dives, and economic coordination systems.
  • Convenings and public events with leading thinkers and practitioners.
  • Essay series in partnership with Phenomenal World, exploring the politics, practice, and possibilities of green democratic planning.
  • A Green Democratic Planning Framework to inform forward looking progressive policy and political programming.
Publications
Meet the Commissioners

The Commissioners are leading thinkers and practitioners of economic and climate policy, brought together in the spirit of generous enquiry and generative critique, to contribute to developing a framework and strategy for green democratic planning for a green, equitable, and prosperous future.

Aaron Benanav

Cornell University

Adrienne Buller

The BREAK—DOWN

Advait Arun

Center for Public Enterprise

Alfie Stirling

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Alyssa Battistoni

Barnard College

Arthur Downing

University of Oxford

Carolina Alves

Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose, UCL

Cecilia Rikap

Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose, UCL

Cornel Ban

Copenhagen Business School

Emily Grubert

University of Notre Dame

Ha-Joon Chang

SOAS, University of London

Ilias Alami

University of Cambridge

Isabel Estevez

i3T

Isabella Weber

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Jeremy Wallace

Johns Hopkins SAIS

Katie Kedward

Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose, UCL

Leah Downey

King's College London

Mehreen Khan

The Times

Mika Minio-Paluello

Trades Union Congress

Richard Kozul-Wright

SOAS, University of London

Sanjukta Paul

University of Michigan Law School

Thea Riofrancos

Providence College

Tim Sahay

Johns Hopkins University
Common Wealth Team Members

Mathew Lawrence

Director

Sarah Nankivell

Deputy Director

Melanie Brusseler

US Programme Director

Alex Williams

Principal US Economist

Chris Hayes

Chief Economist

Sophie Flinders

Senior Data Analyst

Sophie Monk

Principal Designer

Amelia Horgan

Senior Editor & Democratising Work Lead

Pinelopi Gardika

Administrator and Production Officer