Green economics is an economics methodology that promotes a peaceful relationship between humans and nature while attempting to address both of their demands at the same time. Alternative energy sources, sustainable agriculture, wildlife conservation, and environmental regulations may all be studied by green economics.
Green economics is a branch of economics concerned with developing a strategy for promoting harmonious economic interactions between humans and nature. It covers a wide range of topics, including ways of interacting with nature as well as production methods.
Alternative energy sources, materials, food, and other industrial processes may be studied by green economists. Green economics is similar to ecological economics, but it differs in that it is a more comprehensive approach that includes political advocacy for sustainable solutions. Some critics feel that "green" economic solutions are ineffective due to unanticipated environmental consequences.
What is Green Economics?
A green economy can be defined in a variety of ways. In its 2011 report "10 Conditions for a Transition Toward a Green Economy," the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) defined a green economy as one "in which economic growth and environmental responsibility work together in a mutually reinforcing fashion while supporting progress and social development." 1 Consumer-facing label indicating the degree of sustainability of a product or a business is one way that green economics has made its way into the mainstream.
Green economic theories cover a wide range of topics, many of which are concerned with the interwoven interaction between humans and the environment.
Criticism of Green Economics
Green economics has its detractors, despite the appeal of an equitable economy driven by renewable energy sources. Green economics' attempts to separate economic progress from environmental harm, they contend, have failed miserably. The majority of economic expansion has been fueled by nonrenewable technologies and energy sources.
Weaning the world away from these energy sources takes time and effort, and it hasn't always been effective. According to detractors, emphasizing green jobs as a social justice approach is equally flawed. In other situations, the raw material for green energy originates from rare earth minerals mined in harsh conditions by low-wage laborers.
Electric automobiles, for example, may use raw materials mined from fragile rainforests and civil war-torn regions to make their batteries. 4 Another critique of green economics is that it emphasizes a technological approach to solutions, resulting in a market controlled by corporations with technology.
Principles of Green Economics
The Well Being Principle
People are at the heart of the green economy. Its goal is to achieve true, shared wealth. It emphasizes accumulating riches that will benefit one's well-being. This richness encompasses all human, social, physical, and natural capital, not just financial capital. It places a premium on investment and access to the sustainable natural systems, infrastructure, knowledge, and education that all people require to thrive. It provides opportunities for sustainable and dignified livelihoods, businesses, and employment. It is based on individual decisions, but it is founded on communal activity for public values.
The Justice Principle
The green economy is non-discriminatory and inclusive. It fairly distributes decision-making, rewards, and costs; it resists elite capture, and it fosters women's empowerment in particular. It encourages a more equitable distribution of opportunity and outcomes, decreasing gaps between people while yet providing enough area for wildlife and wilderness.
It looks at the economy from a long-term perspective, building wealth and resilience in the interests of future residents while also responding quickly to address today's multi-faceted poverty and injustice. It is founded on solidarity and social justice, as well as establishing trust and social bonds and promoting human rights, worker rights, indigenous peoples' rights, and the right to sustainable development.
The Planetary Boundaries Principle
Nature's multiple values - functional values of supplying products and services that underpin the economy, nature's cultural values that underpin societies, and nature's ecological values that underpin all of life itself – are all recognized and nurtured in an inclusive green economy.
It recognizes that natural capital is restricted in its substitutability with other capitals, and it employs the precautionary principle to prevent the loss of important natural capital and the breaching of ecological constraints.
It invests in biodiversity, soil, water, air, and natural systems protection, growth, and restoration.
It is creative in how it manages natural systems, based on features like circularity, and how it aligns with local community livelihoods based on biodiversity and natural systems.
The Efficiency and Sufficiency Principle
Low-carbon, resource-conserving, varied, and circular are all characteristics of an inclusive green economy. It welcomes innovative economic development strategies that solve the difficulty of achieving wealth within the confines of the planet. It recognizes that if we are to stay within planetary limitations, we must make a substantial worldwide change to reduce natural resource consumption to physically sustainable levels.
It recognizes a ‘social floor' of fundamental goods and services consumption that is necessary for people's wellness and dignity, as well as consumption 'peaks' that are too high. It aligns prices, subsidies, and incentives with genuine societal costs through methods that make the "polluter pay" and/or reward those that achieve inclusive green results.
The Green Governance Principle
An inclusive green economy is evidence-based, with interdisciplinary norms and institutions that use both sound science and economics, as well as local knowledge, to develop adaptable strategies. It is underpinned by institutions that are integrated, collaborative, and cohesive – horizontally across sectors and vertically across governance levels – as well as having sufficient ability to carry out their various duties in an effective, efficient, and responsible manner.
In order for enlightened leadership to be complemented by societal demand, it requires public engagement, prior informed consent, transparency, social dialogue, democratic accountability, and freedom from entrenched interests in all institutions - public, private, and civil society. It encourages local economic decision-making and natural-system management while retaining robust, centralized norms, procedures, and compliance mechanisms.
Written By - Kritika Sharma
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