Transcript Montreal_conf_3_en_green_growth

Is a sustainable capitalism
possible? « Green growth »,
sustainability indicators,
environmental justice
Éloi LAURENT (OFCE/Sciences-po)
[email protected]
Université d’été “Le capitalisme en crises”
Université de Montréal, 1er July 2010.
Outline
 The three ages of Ecology;
 "Green Growth"? Green Jobs? "Green Economy"?
 To Measure is to act: Beyond GDP, new indicators of
sustainability;
 The “new political ecology”;
 Environmental justice and environmental inequalities;
The three ages of ecology
 The terms "green growth" and "green jobs" have emerged in the global public debate
with the publication by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the
International Labour Office (ILO), in the fall of 2008 of the report “Green Jobs: Towards
decent work in a of low carbon sustainable world ”. This report marks the entry of
developed and emerging countries into the the third age of ecology, the economic age.
 Environmental concerns have initially crystallized in a “mystical age” (publication of
Nature in 1836 by the philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Muir's struggle, supported
by President Theodore Roosevelt, for creating the first national parks in the United
States as part of the "conservationist” movement). The second age of ecology, the “civic
age”, also developed in the United States, from the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel
Carson in 1962.
 The advent of the “economic age” of ecology: early 1990s, when governments in
developed countries realized that they should reduce their emissions of greenhouse gas
to counter the threat of climate change.
 This new age came to maturity in fall 2008 in the context of the global crisis, when UNEP
launched the idea of its "Green New Deal" to help economies recover, but mostly to
change.
The « Green new deal »
 The idea of the “green new deal”: the global crisis provides an
opportunity to accelerate the structural transition of economies
towards a low carbon-intensive growth.
 UNEP has called on States since September 2008 to invest in
energy efficiency, develop renewable energies, implementing new
modes of transportation (hybrid vehicles, high-speed train) or to
promote sustainable agriculture .
 UNEP has also engaged in a “green accounting” of fiscal stimulus,
ranking developed and emerging countries.
The « Green New Deal »
Source : HSBC, PNUE.
The « Green new deal »?
 Despite this apparently precise accounting and more
generally the quality of materials produced by UNEP
to characterize the "green economy", there is a doubt
on what it is exactly;
 UNEP itself has actually given different definitions of
the scope of green growth, which raises a simple
question: What is "green growth", as well as the
related concept of "green jobs"?
 Furthermore, how to engage not only in a new way of
doing economic growth but also in a new conception
of human development?
« Green growth »?
 Different definitions, more or less extensible, of "green growth" and "green jobs" coexist
today. According to the OECD, "green growth is the way to go from the current economy to a
sustainable economy. It must promote growth and development while reducing pollution and
emissions of greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing waste generation and waste of natural
resources, preserving biodiversity and enhancing energy security. Green growth means ... to
make environmental investment a new source of economic growth.”
 But for the French Ministry of Ecology, for example, "green growth" is a much broader
concept. “uses less energy resource and nonrenewable raw materials and emits much less
greenhouse gas emissions, which focuses on environmental technologies (all technologies
whose use is less harmful to the environment than the use of standard techniques with similar
needs) who practices responsible production and consumption, thinks in terms of production
life cycle, which protects and restores the ecosystem services from water, soil, biodiversity,
which puts men and women at the center of the business and social project; that promotes
participation of everyone in the decision and enriched by the difference, that respects the
cultures and heritages, which assesses the effects of decisions on future generations. "
« Green jobs »?
 UNEP and ILO in 2008 have defined green jobs as jobs that reduce the impact on the
environment, bringing it down to sustainable levels. "Green jobs" are jobs in agriculture,
industry, services and administration that contribute to the preservation or restoration
of the quality of the surround. The report states: "there are green jobs in many sectors of
the economy, from energy supply to recycling and from agriculture to construction and
transportation. They help reduce energy consumption, raw materials and water through
strategies improving performance, reducing emissions of carbon, minimizing or
completely avoiding all forms of waste and pollution and protecting and restoring
ecosystems and biodiversity”;
 This definition is also adopted by Eurostat (2009) in its report on "environmental goods
and services," defined as a heterogeneous ensemble of technologies, goods and services
that prevent or reduce pollution and minimize the use of natural resources;
 Environmental activities are grouped into two broad categories: environmental
protection and management of natural resources. Green jobs, which are not explicitly
defined by Eurostat, in this context would fall under one of these two sectors. “Green
growth" would be the growth of these two “eco industries".
« Green jobs »?
 We can see that the sometimes vague nature of “Green Growth” and “green
jobs” come from their their dynamic aspect: new eco-industries must be
developed, but greening the old ones is as important, including “decarbonizing” growth.
 Similarly, the scope of "green jobs" must take into account the effects of
induced development of these sectors on the rest of the economy. GHK et al.
(2007) estimate that total employment in eco-industries in the EU 27 reached 4.6
million in 2000, divided into 2.4 million direct jobs, 1.3 million indirect jobs, and
0.9 million induced jobs (depending on the resources invested in direct and
indirect);
 If we extend the definition of eco-industries, beyond the Eurostat definition,
activities that depend on environmental resources (such as agriculture, forestry
or eco-tourism), the total of green jobs reaches more than 10% of total
employment in the EU-27 and even 17% if the indirect and induced jobs are
added. Under this broad accounting, 1 job in 6 in Europe would be more or less
"green".
« Green jobs »
Source : GHK, 2007.
« Green jobs »
Source : UNEP, ILO, 2008.
« Green jobs »
Source : UNEP, ILO, 2008.
« Green jobs »
Source : UNEP, ILO, 2008.
Towards a sustainable capitalism ?
 But we can, and indeed we must, go further. We have more fundamentally to change the
mode of development and not only boost growth in GDP and employment;
 Therefore, the criteria of “green” should be extended to new requirements inspired by
sustainable development, starting with the improvement of individual welfare and social
justice. Under the broad definition of UNEP, a "Green Economy is an economy where the
vital links between economy, society and environment are considered and in which the
transformation of production processes and patterns of consumption and production,
while helping to reduce the amount of waste produced per unit of pollution and use of
resources, materials, energy and revitalize and diversify the economy creates new
opportunities for decent work (access to employment, fair compensation, rights, means
of expression and recognition, justice and gender equality) promoting sustainable trade,
reducing poverty, improving equity and income distribution.”;
 The Brundtland Report (1987) has indeed defined sustainable development as
"development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”;
 The social and environmental dimensions are interlinked in the concept of sustainable
development.
Towards a sustainable capitalism ?
 For the sake of clarity, we should distinguish between “green growth” and
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“sustainable development”.
The first objective means developing sectors of the economy, while creating
employment and limit the impact of human activities on the environment
(climate, ecosystems, biodiversity).
The second imperative, more ambitious, means redefining the notion of
development with greater emphasis on its human dimension (environmental
sustainability, equality, health, education) to go beyond mere economic
dimension (growth of GDP per capita).
In the first perspective, we should put a price on carbon, promote the financing
of innovation and research in new energy and environment technologies and
invest in training for “green jobs”;
In the second perspective, we must develop new indicators of development for
public policy, develop "social-ecological" policies that articulate the social and
environmental dimensions and especially address the issue of environmental
justice and inequalities.
New human development indicators
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The Human Development Report of 1990 marked a renaissance in development thinking: "What we call
human development is the process that expands the range of opportunities for individuals: living long and
healthy life, being educated and having resources for a decent standard of living, are fundamental
requirements, to which must be added political freedom, the enjoyment of human rights and self-respect.”
Inspired by the work of Sen, who summarizes this approach in a superb formula that defines development
as “a process of expanding real freedoms enjoyed by the people”;
From these reflections were born three key indicators of "human development": the human development
index (HDI, based on three dimensions: life expectancy, education and income per capita); Development
Index linked to gender (which adds to the HDI inequalities between men and women), and finally the
human poverty index (a measure of poverty not in monetary form, but according to the dimensions of the
HDI);
But these indicators were initially constructed to measure the progress of developing countries, and
remain, at least for the main one, the HDI, too correlated to GDP. New indicators should be built for
developed countries;
The Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Report (2009) points to three directions. One possibility is to modify the existing
accounting framework to better take into account inequality, security, public services (health, education,
etc..). But a number of phenomena that determine the well-being of individuals are not measured by our
statistical system, mainly those relating to the environment (air quality, water, etc..), A second direction of
research is thus to try to propose measures acceptable of those variables. Finally, we do not really have
indicators of the quality of life, although many studies have tried it (happiness, "capabilities", leisure,
freedom, participation in civic life, etc..).
These three lines of research intersect in many aspects and together define the research agenda for the
coming decades in order to achieve a redefinition of the instruments of public action.
The Ethics of sustainability
 Another lever of action towards this new mode of development is to
redefine not only indicators but the philosophy of public policy.
 The standard economic approach to environmental issues, which is
logically focus on economic instruments (taxes, emission permits,
regulation), reveals that the "science of efficiency," on which it rests
(cost-benefit calculations), which wants to be autonomous, is in fact
heavily dependent on ethical considerations.
 For instance, the calculation of the social discount rate for simulation
models of climate change is not neutral: it requires precise choice in
matters of justice between generations and within them.
The « new political ecology »
 The approach of the "new political ecology" (Fitoussi and Laurent, 2008) is
precisely to make explicit the link between ecology and inequality, between
social issues and environmental imperative, which is at the heart of the notion
of sustainable development.
 The link between social justice and ecology is in fact a simply worded: social
inequalities are among the leading causes of contemporary environmental
problems while contemporary environmental problems primarily affect the
poorest in all human societies (Laurent , 2009).
 The study of the relationship between democracy and sustainability, linkages
between poverty and environmental degradation, the correlation between
rising income inequality and the weakening of environmental policies must be
deepened.
 Two important issues: environmental justice and “environmental inequalities”.
What is environmental justice?
 The notion of “environmental justice” was born in the United States at the end
of the 1970s, in the context of racial progress and civic activism. It served to
designate at once racial and ethnic inequalities in exposure to environmental
risk (pollutions, toxic waste, flooding) and the exclusion of racial minorities,
especially African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, from the
definition and implementation of environmental policies in the US.
 The defining episode of the environmental justice movement happened in
Warren County in 1982, when African-American residents of this North Carolina
district opposed the building of a toxic waste landfill nearby;
 With the Executive order 12898 of February 11 1994 on environmental justice
(“Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations
and Low-Income Populations”), the Clinton administration has transformed a
public concern into a federal obligation, with the section 1-101 demanding from
all federal agencies that they integrate the new objective of environmental
justice.
Environmental inequalities
 Exposure and access inequalities: The unequal distribution of environmental quality
between individuals and groups (defined in racial, ethnic or social terms), whether
negatively (exposure to environmental risk and hazard) or positively (access to
environmental amenities) ; in this category is included the issue of vulnerability to
ecological disasters - the patent form of latent inequalities in terms of exposure and
sensitivity - and the risk of multiple and cumulative impact of social and environmental
inequalities;
 Policy effect inequalities: The unequal effect of environmental policies, ie the unequal
distribution not of environmental goods or bads but of the income effect for instance of
regulatory or tax policies among individuals and groups;
 Impact inequalities: The unequal environmental impact of the different individuals and
groups with regards to their income and/or lifestyles ; some scholars point to the notion
of “ecological inequalities” to characterize this type of inequalities (see Emelianoff,
2006);
 Policy-making inequalities: The unequal access to environmental policy-making, ie the
unequal involvement and empowerment of individuals and groups in decisions
regarding their immediate environment.