Examples of "green left" parties include GroenLinks in the Netherlands, the Green Party of the United States, the Left-Green Movement in Iceland, and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.
The name "Green Left" is also used by a variety of organisations which espouse socialist or Marxist principles, but with a greater emphasis on environmental preservation than previous iterations of socialism and communism.
In Europe, the green left arose partly out of the declining Eurocommunist tendency that has been mostly associated with various communist parties in the continent.
Far-left political parties or joint electoral lists have been formed over the years, most often between Marxist and radical greens.
In December 2007, an Italian electoral coalition of the radical left was formed known as The Left – The Rainbow, comprising Federation of the Greens, two communist parties and a small democratic socialist party.