From UNRISD Research and Policy Brief 12 - May 2012
Social Dimensions of Green Economy
Economic, technological and institutional changes that currently
form the basis of green economy strategies run the risk of reinforcing
human insecurity and inequalities. A growing body of evidence points to
diverse social consequences, and suggests key elements of alternative
approaches that can promote the combined social, economic and
environmental goals of sustainable development.
In the wake of the triple crises of recent years (food,
energy and finance) and in lead up to the 2012 United
Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
(Rio+20), the concept of green economy has taken
centre stage in international development circles.
Coined to draw attention to the lack of integration
of environmental concerns in economic policy since
the Earth Summit in 1992, both the concept itself,
and strategies to promote a green economy, are highly
contested. There is considerable consensus on the
need to shift from high- to low-carbon systems and
transform patterns of investment, production and
consumption in ways that are conducive to sustainable
development. But varying paths to green economy
exist. Each implies different costs and benefits for
different social groups, countries and regions, as well
as different roles and responsibilities for state, market
and community actors and institutions.
Read also
From Green Economy to Green Society. Bringing the Social to Rio+20
From
United
Nations Environment Programme - 2011
Towards a green economy -
Pathways to Sustainable Development
and Poverty Eradication
-
A Synthesis for Policy Makers
The last two years have seen the idea of a “green economy”
float out of its specialist moorings in environmental
economics and into the mainstream of policy discourse.
It is found increasingly in the words of heads of state and
finance ministers, in the text of G20 communiqués, and
discussed in the context of sustainable development and
poverty eradication.
This recent traction for a green economy concept has no
doubt been aided by widespread disillusionment with
our prevailing economic paradigm, a sense of fatigue
emanating from the many concurrent crises and market
failures experienced during the very first decade of the
new millennium, including especially the financial and
economic crisis of 2008. But at the same time, we have seen
increasing evidence of a way forward, a new economic
paradigm – one in which material wealth is not delivered
perforce at the expense of growing environmental risks,
ecological scarcities and social disparities.
The Transition to a
Green Economy: Benefits, Challenges and Risks from a Sustainable
Development Perspective - 2012
Report by a Panel of Experts
to
Second Preparatory Committe Meeting for
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
Prepared under the direction of: Division for Sustainable Development,
UN-DESA
United Nations Environment Programme
UN Conference on Trade and Development
From Economic Development in
Africa Report 2012
CHAPTER 1: ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY, ECONOMIC GROWTH AND STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION: CONCEPTUAL
ISSUES
There are important differences among economists, and also between
economists and ecologists, regarding the relationship between economic growth
and the environment, the meaning of sustainability, and the policies necessary to
make growth consistent with environmental sustainability. Against this backdrop,
this chapter examines some conceptual issues critical to understanding different
approaches.
The chapter is organized in four parts. Section A summarizes some fundamental
differences among scholars on what sustainability is, how it could be achieved,
and the policies deemed necessary to make growth consistent with environmental
sustainability. In this context, section B identifies some conceptual issues related
to the notions of the green economy and green growth. A particular challenge is
to operationalize the idea of a green economy in a development context. Section
C builds on one of the approaches of section A to discuss how resource use and
environmental impacts change during the course of economic development. This
shows that for countries at low levels of development, there will necessarily be a
trade-off between structural transformation, on the one hand, and environmental
sustainability, on the other hand. Section D introduces the concept of sustainable
structural transformation (SST) as an appropriate strategy for managing that tradeoff
and introducing a development-led approach to the green economy.
A. The relationship between the economy and the
environment: alternative views
B. Conceptual issues concerning the green economy and green
growth
C. The dynamics of development, resource use and environmental
impacts
D. The concept of sustainable structural
transformation
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