What is a green economy?
The green economy has been seen as an alternative to a more sustainable economic model
Edited and resized image Jakob Owens, is available on Unsplash
The green economy appears as a criticism of the search for “infinite” economic growth. This is because the latter has generated the appearance of several environmental problems due to the excessive exploitation of natural resources, as well as pollution and incorrect disposal of waste. In addition, this model also causes a great concentration of wealth and social imbalance. These questions call into question the livelihood of future generations and life as we know it today.
The need to reorient current consumption and production patterns is evident. For this, business sectors, government, social agents and NGOs need to unite towards a more environmentally responsible and socially inclusive economy, according to some current views.
Economics has a lot to do with sustainability. The structure of the traditional economic model does not address the needs for sustainable development. For this reason, governments, civil society and the private sector have sought (together or separately) alternatives with definitions and agreements that allow for the transition or rupture towards more sustainable economic models.
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Which is?
Edited and resized image by Casey Horner is available on Unsplash
In 2008, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) launched the Green Economy Initiative (IEV, or GEI-Green Economy Initiative, in English). The expression "Green Economy" was accepted by the international community and popularized. The term replaced the concept of “ecodevelopment” used by the first executive director of UNEP and general secretary of the Stockholm Conference (1972) and Rio-92, Maurice Strong.
The Concept divides opinions about the possibility of its effective practice. The green economy is defined by UNEP as “an economy that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity”. The main characteristics of the green economy are: low carbon, efficient use of natural resources and social inclusion. The green economy project proposes conscious consumption, recycling, reuse of goods, use of clean energy and valuing biodiversity.
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In the green economy, the set of production processes and the transactions that result from them must contribute to development, whether socially or environmentally speaking. It seeks to improve the quality of life, reduce inequalities, conserve biodiversity and preserve the environment, as recommended by its main advocates in international forums and multilateral agencies, such as UNEP, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
For this, the State can participate with the use of economic instruments that induce the desired social behavior. Fiscal policy measures, such as higher taxes for polluting firms or subsidies for implementing environmentally friendly technologies, are an option. Together, the regulation of quantitative limits for gas emissions or maximum allowed energy consumption must be made. Thus, transitioning from the brown economy to the green economy. The State can define public policies as an instrument of action to introduce programs that favor economic development and respect environmental limits. Public policies can act to raise awareness of the importance of environmental resources.
The social cost outweighs the private cost in activities that generate pollution and deforestation. For this reason, these activities must be interfered with, so that the end result is not a level of pollution above or a degree of environmental preservation below what it should be.
Reviews
Many criticisms are made to the theme, by organizations and social movements, which consider the green economy as a false solution that takes the form of a green capitalism. Behind a technical facade, the green economy report includes the acceptance of carbon, water and biodiversity that are subject to appropriation and negotiation by contract and that they constitute new global commodity chains.
The main criticism made to the green economy revolves around this issue and the denial of the possibility of assigning monetary values to natural goods. Critics of the idea of valuing the environment with traditional mechanisms consider the green economy to be another name for the so-called market environmentalism.
When natural assets are valued in cash, it is possible to carry out environmental compensation operations in which a natural area or natural resources that have been destroyed can be compensated for by other areas and resources, as in the case of Environmental Reserve Quotas (CRA). Critics do not consider this reasonable, as it would be impossible to accurately compare the natural value of one location with the natural value of another. This mechanism is seen as the fomentation of a new market, where the processes and products supplied by nature are merchandise. Whether it's water and air purification, the generation of soil nutrients for agriculture, pollination, the supply of inputs for biotechnology, among others. These criticisms call into question the efficiency of the green economy in relation to environmental conservation, and with regard to social inclusion.
