The goal of Universal Basic Services (UBS) is universal access to the necessities of life across the planet. Ecological sustainability is integrated into its purpose and design.This is not a social Number'“Additional” but integral to achieving environmental goals. This briefing summarizes its recommendations, before detailing how it could play a key role in protecting nature and achieving net zero emissions.
UBS's advice
The first task of good government is to meet the needs of the people generally and fully. Some needs can be met through markets, but all require collective measures: public services, investment of public funds, and regulation in the public interest. The term UBS is shorthand for this combination of measures.
UBS seeks to improve existing services such as healthcare and schools, and extend collective measures to areas where basic needs are not adequately met, including housing, household energy, childcare, adult social care, transport and digital access.
Because different needs are necessarily met in different ways, UBS provides a framework of principles to guide policy and practice in each case. The main features are universal rights to the necessities of life, inherent sustainability, decentralization, a mixed economy of providers bound by public interest obligations, and fair pay and conditions for service personnel.
Why UBS matters to environmentalists
UBS's vision is Number'A safe and just space for humanity”. It seeks to achieve this vision by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, safeguarding ecological limits, promoting greater equality and building a safe social foundation for all. It resonates strongly with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
