Buen Vivir is a Latin American concept which can be understood in three differing ways, but mainly as a critique to the Western way of development. The equivalent school of thoughts in Europe is based on the, the Green New Deal, which proposes a strategy to confront the challenges of global warming, finite resources and etc. Despite this connection, the Green New Deal it is not a goal in itself, it is just a tool, differing from a political philosophy like Buen Vivir.
Worldwide we are facing a major crisis: Global warming, scarce resources, an unsustainable economic system and the severe social impacts of these phenomena. So how can we assure prosperity now and for future generations face to the limited resources of our planet? In Europe the Greens launched the Green New Deal to try to give answers to these challenges. In Latin America academics are discussing the Buen Vivir concept. The Green New Deal proposes a strategy to guarantee prosperity and social cohesion by reducing inequalities between societies and within society, as a starting point respecting the environment. The Green New Deal is not an end in itself; it is first of all a tool. It suggests ways of socially and ecologically transforming the capitalist economy. This is the major difference to the concept of Buen Vivir representing an approach of political philosophy which questions some of our general systemic assumptions more profoundly.
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