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Bringing Back the Social? UNRISD Conference on Green Economy and Sustainable Development
7 Sep 2011 Authors: Kiah Smith, Peter Utting In the lead up to Rio+20, there is an upsurge of debate around "green economy", highlighting contestation around the concept as well as over the nature of any transition path. Green economy is not simply about the economy and environment; more fundamentally, it requires a deeper restructuring of economic and social processes and relations, with social dimensions critical in driving a just transition and mitigating impacts. However, the social dimensions of green economy and sustainable development, for that matter are not well understood or integrated in current debates. UNRISD research is helping to address this gap by positioning social dimensions at the centre of green economy and sustainable development. This is the focus of our upcoming conference, Green Economy and Sustainable Development: Bringing Back the Social Dimension, to be held in Geneva on 10-11 October 2011. While the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD 2012, or Rio+20) has identified Green Economy for Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication as a core theme, many developing country governments, civil society actors and scholars fear that certain approaches to green economy could sideline or even undermine sustainable development. Key concerns include new forms of conditionality and protectionism, the exclusion of marginalized groups, and the commodification of nature. An underlying issue is whether green economy transition will reinforce particular market-led approaches to development that have increased North-South and inter-group inequalities in recent decades. And although poverty eradication is increasingly accepted as a goal of green economy, social dimensions of development such as equality, social and power relations, participation and the transformative role of social policy are often downplayed in mainstream approaches centred on green growth, green jobs, green consumerism and social protection for vulnerable groups. Alternative perspectives such as those associated with climate justice, developmentalism and solidarity economy raise further questions about the potential of green economy to place inequality and the vulnerable at the centre of sustainable development. The need to reject a one-size-fits-all model in favour of different approaches across regions and at different scales has been emphasized, especially by developing countries, yet there is growing uncertainty about how to move forward in the current context of multiple global crises and natural disasters. Unless social dimensions are addressed more centrally and comprehensively, there is a danger that efforts to connect green economy, sustainable development and poverty eradication will fail.

The UNRISD conference will address key challenges facing the UN system in the lead up to Rio+20: (i) identifying the links between the social, economic and environmental dimensions of green economy and sustainable development; (ii) finding ways to move beyond the multitude of issue areas and good practice examples toward understanding how these relate to transforming the social policies, institutions and relations that underpin vulnerability and inequality; and (iii) asserting the centrality of these social dimensions in a political context dominated by economic and environmental considerations. This requires asking some tough questions. How is the notion of green economy itself, and the consideration of social dimensions, being framed by diverse social actors (e.g. states, business and civil society), and how is this shaping policy agendas and development models? What role can social policy, in association with economic and environmental policy, play in the transformation of structures, institutions and social relations that reproduce or reinforce inequality and vulnerability? And what forms of participation, contestation, coalitions, alliances and compromises are emergingor might need to emergeto promote green economy approaches that contribute to sustainable development and poverty eradication? The UNRISD conference will critically examine these issues, through the following thematic areas:

competing paradigms; the challenge of policy coherence; agency, interests and coalitions; community values, institutions and dynamics; the social construction of markets; and agriculture and rural development.

The conference will provide opportunities to discuss these themes with UN agencies engaged in cutting-edge thinking on social dimensions of green economy and sustainable development, and will bring representatives of research, policy and civil society together to debate the next steps for research and action on the topic. Researchers identified through the conference call for papers will contribute short think pieces which will be published periodically on the UNRISD website until Rio+20 in June 2012. Policy reports and other publications will inform the Rio+20 preparatory process and subsequent policy discussions.

A green economy is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (2010). A green economy is a economy or economic development model based on sustainable development and a knowledge of ecological economics. Its most distinguishing feature from prior economic regimes is direct valuation of natural capital and ecological services as having economics value (see TEEB and Bank of Natural Capital) and a full cost accounting regime in which costs externalized onto society via ecosystems are reliably traced back to, and accounted for as liabilities of, the entity that does the harm or neglects an asset.

For an overview of the developments in international environment policy that led up to the UNEP Green Economy Report, see Runnals (2011).[1]

Contents
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1 "Green" economists and economics 2 Definition of a green economy 3 Other issues 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

[edit] "Green" economists and economics

Green Economics is loosely defined as any theory of economics by which an economy is considered to be component of the ecosystem in which it resides (after Lynn Margulis). A holistic approach to the subject is typical, such that economic ideas are commingled with any number of other subjects, depending on the particular theorist. Proponents of feminism, postmodernism, the ecology movement, peace movement, Green politics, green anarchism and anti-globalization movement have used the term to describe very different ideas, all external to some equally ill-defined "mainstream" economics. The use of the term is further ambiguated by the political distinction of Green parties which are formally organized and claim the capital-G "Green" term as a unique and distinguishing mark. It is thus preferable to refer to a loose school of "'green economists"' who generally advocate shifts towards a green economy, biomimicry and a fuller accounting for biodiversity. (see TEEB especially for current authoritative international work towards these goals and Bank of Natural Capital for a layman's presentation of these.) Some economists view green economics as a branch or subfield of more established schools. For instance, as classical economics where the traditional land is generalized to natural capital and has some attributes in common with labor and physical capital (since natural capital assets like rivers directly substitute for man-made ones such as canals). Or, as Marxist economics with nature represented as a form of lumpen proletariat, an exploited base of non-human workers providing surplus value to the human economy. Or as a branch of neoclassical economics in which the price of life for developing vs. developed nations is held steady at a ratio reflecting a balance of power and that of non-human life is very low. An increasing consensus around the ideas of natural capital and full cost accounting could blur distinctions between the schools and redefine them all as variations of green economics. As of 2010 the Bretton Woods institutions (notably the World Bank [1] and IMF (via its "Green Fund" initiative) responsible for global monetary policy have stated a clear intention to move towards

biodiversity valuation and a more official and universal biodiversity finance. Taking these into account targeting not less but radically zero emission and waste is what is promoted by the Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives.

[edit] Definition of a green economy

Karl Burkart defines a green economy as based on six main sectors:[2]

Renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal, marine including wave, biogas, and fuel cell) Green buildings (green retrofits for energy and water efficiency, residential and commercial assessment; green products and materials, and LEED construction) Clean transportation (alternative fuels, public transit, hybrid and electric vehicles, carsharing and carpooling programs) Water management (Water reclamation, greywater and rainwater systems, low-water landscaping, water purification, stormwater management) Waste management (recycling, municipal solid waste salvage, brownfield land remediation, Superfund cleanup, sustainable packaging) Land management (organic agriculture, habitat conservation and restoration; urban forestry and parks, reforestation and afforestation and soil stabilization)

The three pillars of sustainability.

The Global Citizens Center, led by Kevin Danaher, defines green economy in terms of a "triple bottom line," an economy concerned with being:[3]
1. Environmentally sustainable, based on the belief that our biosphere is a closed system with finite resources and a limited capacity for self-regulation and self-renewal. We depend on the earths natural resources, and therefore we must create an economic system that respects the integrity of ecosystems and ensures the resilience of life supporting systems. 2. Socially just, based on the belief that culture and human dignity are precious resources that, like our natural resources, require responsible stewardship to avoid their depletion. We must create

a vibrant economic system that ensures all people have access to a decent standard of living and full opportunities for personal and social development. 3. Locally rooted, based on the belief that an authentic connection to place is the essential precondition to sustainability and justice. The Green Economy is a global aggregate of individual communities meeting the needs of its citizens through the responsible, local production and exchange of goods and services.

The Global Green Economy Index[4], published annually by consultancy Dual Citizen Inc., measures and ranks the perception and performance of 27 national green economies. This index looks at 4 primary dimensions defining a national green economy as follows:
1. Leadership and the extent to which national leaders are champions for green issues on the local and international stage 2. Domestic policies and the success of policy frameworks to successfully promote renewable energy use in home market 3. Cleantech Investment and the perceived opportunities and cleantech investment climate in each country 4. Green tourism and the level of commitment to promoting sustainable tourism through government

[edit] Other issues

Green economy includes green energy generation based on renewable energy to substitute for fossil fuels and energy conservation for efficient energy use. The green economy creates jobs, ensures real, sustainable economic growth, and prevents environmental pollution, global warming, resource depletion, and environmental degradation[citation needed]. Because the market failure related to environmental and climate protection as a result of external costs, high future commercial rates and associated high initial costs for research, development, and marketing of green energy sources and green products prevents firms from being voluntarily interested in reducing environment-unfriendly activities (Reinhardt, 1999; King and Lenox, 2002; Wagner, 203; Wagner, et al., 2005), the green economy may need government subsidies as market incentives to motivate firms to invest and produce green products and services. The German Renewable Energy Act, legislations of many other EU countries and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, all provide such market incentives. However, there are still incompatibilities between the UN global green new deal call and the existing international trade mechanism in terms of market incentives. For example, the WTO Subsidies Agreement has strict rules against government subsidies, especially for exported goods. Such incompatibilities may serve as obstacles to governments' responses to the UN Global green new deal call.[citation needed]