What would a green economy really look like?

With diminishing environmental resources and services, a move to a “green economy” is seemingly without question, but what does this actually mean?

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) define green economy as “well-being and social equity, whilst significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities”. A definition we can be grateful for, but is enough research actually being carried out to truly create a framework of implementation? Are governments using the research that exists to make green economy a reality? Or are we still very much in the stages of conceptualisation?

A recent review in the Journal of cleaner production described inefficient attempts to implement the radical changes that it reported necessary to actualize green economy beyond conceptual discussion. The same review also identified different actions as “weak’ or “strong” sustainability efforts, highlighting a greater correlation of research in green economy to “weak” sustainability efforts, associated with the theory of environmental economics. “Environmental economics” refers to the study of how environmental policies affect the financial sector, with the assumption that economic growth can be facilitated by correctly pricing goods to capture their sustainable production. This theory has been criticised for a focus on continuous economic growth and for supposing natural capital and man-made capital to be substitutable, with loss of natural assets presented as opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Even more recently, a paper in Research policy highlights the complex interdisciplinary approach that is required to theorise and create “green growth”. Here, the paper looks at the capacity for different countries to create green products and compete industrially, identifying that from a purely economic perspective, investing in green technologies may not be obviously desirable. One of the reasons being that “market prices might not account for environmental benefits associated with green products”. A suggested solution is government intervention. One of the many findings offered by this paper is that “green and renewable products have not grown as a fraction of total trade in the last 20 years”. The paper also concludes that the sooner countries increase their green production, the better, remarking “that earlier and more aggressive action to establish green production capabilities is required in order to succeed in the future green economy”.

We can blame lack of change in recent years on Covid, but both papers present current notions of development as too small to affect economic revolution. We have understood the nonsensical and destructive ways of linear production lines, powered by fossil fuels, for long enough. Our economy is stimulated by excessive consumerism and waste, intrinsic aspects that won’t disappear because we use biodegradable forks instead of plastic ones. It isn’t enough to rely on technology to invent new products in place of old ones. This would be a band-aid on a wound, that will fall off before healing is possible. A truly green economy shifts the focus from financial productivity to ecological productivity, investing in the future. Do you believe that our governments are capable of embracing this with foresight?

Ecological economics offer an opposing theory of a sustainable economy by internalising that this planet has biophysical limits, that when exploited, render the system unsafe and will in turn make economic growth a pointless consideration. Instead of allowing economic growth to dominate decisions, the reality of the so called “Economically developed”, this theory suggests that the economy should operate within a system that places sustainability at the heart of decision-making, and acknowledges that the value of this is greater than the money it generates.

A possible model in offer is Circular economy. Circular economy calls for the breakdown of our current system of linear production to be replaced by one that is regenerative. In natural ecosystems, we see the recycling of energy and matter, by which the waste product of one process presents food to another. Using this understanding, circular economy advocates for the use of by-products from one industry as resources for another, mitigating waste and pollution. Other principles essential to a circular economy is the long-term use of products and materials, as well as pre-informed decisions about the fate of a product before creation. This system would essentially be an extension of a healthy and self-sustaining natural world, whereby humans give back as much as they take, and all industries are more intimately connected.

This may seem like an issue that is beyond the power of an individual to manifest, but we all have a role to play here. We have to ask ourselves if we are willing to accept a truly sustainable world. This may entail a reduction to our current standards of consumerism and the complete reinvention of our economy.

Article written by Aisling Geraghty-United Kingdom