Green Economy has been identified as a key approach in achieving sustainable development. While the concept makes sense, the next logical step would be to identify ways of achieving it. UNEP (now UN Environment) offers a  three-part framework that aims at achieving a green economy. These outline the pernicious sectors that are to be looked at if the green economy is to be achieved. They include;

• Part I—Investing in Natural Capital—is divided into four areas: Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries, and Water
• Part II—Investing in Energy and Resource Efficiency—identifies seven sectors: Manufacturing, Waste, Transport, Renewable Energy, Buildings, Tourism, and Cities
• Part III—Supporting the transition to a global green economy— describes three means to the stated ends: Modeling, Enabling Conditions, and Finance

The U.N. calls for investing two percent of world GDP, US$ 1.3 trillion, each year until 2050, for economic development intended to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (Now Sustainable Development Goals) and eliminate poverty. The funds are to come mostly from private capital (Gilbert and Miller, 2011). For the concept to be achieved there is a need for investment in capital. However, it is noted that Green Economy initiatives will not be profitable for the first five to ten years. Additionally, support from governments in policy and regulatory frameworks including the removal of harmful subsidies. Although green economic growth is increasing rapidly, the environmental crisis demands a bigger and faster shift. The report identifies two major challenges: one is that Green Economy is based on the idea of economic growth on a finite planet, so there is a need to decouple (separate) this growth from an increasing carbon and environmental footprint, and to reduce waste generation. And secondly, it requires a shift in values. We must “re-think and redefine traditional measures of wealth, prosperity and well-being”, replacing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with Indicators of Well-being.

The green economy, far from requiring barriers or restrictions of any type, generates opportunities, since it represents:

• A reconciliation of the growth of economic and trade activity with sustainable resource management and stronger environmental protection;
• Investment in agricultural technologies that permit more sustainable use of the soil and natural resources in general;
• Lower carbon emissions;
• Promoting, disseminating and investing in renewable forms of energy;
• Environmentally sustainable waste management;
• Proper management of chemical products;
• Promotion of sustainable consumption and production patterns, with the developed countries taking the lead in implementing measures;
• Promoting sustainable social housing by using clean technologies in construction, and creating industrial job opportunities.

Other possible instruments that can contribute to sustainable development in the framework of the green growth concept—the framework for discussion among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries is this strategy—are sustainable public procurement; the creation of respectable green jobs (especially for women and young people); the elimination of perverse subsidies; “green” taxes; sustainable infrastructure; sustainable farm production; renewable energy and energy efficiency; sustainable land-use policies; the promotion of science, research, development and innovation in sustainable technologies and industries with high growth potential; and, in particular, the promotion of a low-carbon economy.

UNEP (2011) reckons a transition to a green economy presents both challenges and opportunities. But is the concept of green growth relevant in all economies in different stages of development? For developed countries, a green economy fuelled by green growth requires radical changes in behavior and shifting public opinion. It requires strong and clear signals not only from the government but also from individuals – citizens and consumers – to prioritize environmental and social sustainability. The greatest challenge thus lies with changing behaviors and transforming institutions to enable the adoption of sustainable patterns of production and consumption. Public policy changes at all levels – local, regional, national, and international – are necessary to make private and civic action easier and more attractive. This is necessary as it is known the production and consumption levels of the North are a great concern for the environment.

Indeed, the green economy can also be successfully pursued in the developing world, including in Africa. It can lead to economic growth which is socially-inclusive and environmentally-sustainable in the medium to long term. Africa’s level of development means that it can take a very different development path from other regions – a strategic advantage that Africa ought to exploit. Africa can leap-frog dirty and inefficient technologies and products, thus skipping the most polluting and less sustainable production and consumption processes (as they can learn from the mistakes of developed countries). These technologies should harness indigenous and local knowledge, and include a mix of low-tech solutions (e.g. cleaner, more efficient burning stoves), medium-tech solutions (e.g. green infrastructure), and high-tech solutions such as solar and wind energy technology. Conversely, Africa needs to avoid technological lock-ins where polluting technologies are used, as they are cheaper in the short term.

Certain components are required to ensure the successful implementation of green economy policies in the longer term. Good governance and adequate institutional and human capacities are essential to realizing the effective implementation of policies. Strong political support would provide much-needed policy and financial leverage, and help create confidence in the green economy issue. Furthermore, the engagement of business groups would help generate additional resources and facilitate markets for specific interventions in the green economy. Improving budgetary allocation, fighting corruption and inefficient use of public resources, will necessarily play a key role in the transition. Public participation and wide buy-in of the concept is also necessary. The green economy agenda will struggle in the absence of meaningful participation by the people, as citizens, and as consumers. In this respect, it is extremely important to strengthen governance in order to improve accountability, participation, and transparency in decision-making.

The green economy is a relatively common concept in environmental management. Simply put, the ‘green’ economy can be considered synonymous to a ‘sustainable’ economy. However, the Green Economy concept often carries a more distinctive meaning, one that focuses specifically on the fundamental changes that are required to ensure that economic systems are made more sustainable. Ecological economics, industrial ecology and environmental/resource economics are the three closely related disciplines to the notion of the Green Economy (Ciocoiu, 2011). Green is synonymous with nature while the economy is the system to which a country’s/ region trade, industry, and money are organized. Simply put, the concept implies an active integration of environmental consideration in economic models.

In 2008, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP[1]) now called (UN Environment) launched a Green Economy Initiative that did culminate in the publication later in 2010 of a major Green Economy Report. In this report UNEP defines the green economy as “the process of reconfiguring businesses and infrastructure to deliver better returns on natural, human and economic capital investments, while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions, extracting and using less natural resources, creating less waste and reducing social disparities.” (UNEP, 2010, p.5) Green economy purposes are human welfare improvement and reduction of environmental risks over the long term.

UNEP (2010) has provided some of the fundamental elements defining and explaining the core principles and concepts underlying a green economy. The main tenets of this green economy initiative are:

1. investing in natural capital
2. decarbonizing the economy
3. creating green jobs.

The sectors analyzed in the UNEP report are agriculture, cities, forests, renewable energy, transport, water, buildings, fisheries, industry, tourism, and waste management.

Green Economy Coalition (GEC), on the other hand, defines green economy in terms of an economy adhering to the following blocks; 1) low-carbon energy, infrastructure, and transport; 2) sustainable systems of food production, water and sanitation, and waste; 3) ways of protecting and sustainably using biodiversity; 4) green jobs, decent work, sustainable lifestyles and livelihoods that ensure social justice and equity, and set real measures for progress and wellbeing; 5) investment in green sectors, 6) environmental ‘accounting’ and the introduction of new business models and 7) policy reform (GEC, 2012). Whatever the definition, it is clear that green economy ascribes to the principles of sustainable development, equity and poverty alleviation, the resilience of ecosystems, inclusiveness and environmental limits.

The nexus between development, poverty and environmental degradation is hard to define. Africa and other developing countries need to develop, but it is increasingly clear that business as usual in Africa and around the world is no longer an option. We are living beyond the carrying capacity of our planet. According to the Living Planet Report (2010), August 21 of 2010 was earth overshoot day. This implied we exhausted our ecological budget for the year. Today, it is estimated that we use the equivalent of 1.5 planets to provide us with resources and absorb our waste. If current trends in population growth and consumption patterns continue, by 2030, we would need two planets to support us. Even if most of this capacity is used by people outside of Africa, overshooting the earth’s carrying capacity tends to have a disproportionate impact on the poor, who are the least equipped to deal with the associated challenge (UNEP, 2011). This means that the vulnerable are the most affected by environmental degradation despite contributing little to environmental degradation.  

A new approach to economic growth is thus necessary. We need to find ways of integrating environmental sustainability with economic growth and welfare by decoupling growth from environmental over-exploitation and social inequities and inequalities. “Environmental sustainability”, “sustainable consumption and production”, “green growth”, “climate-resilient, low emission strategies “, “inclusive growth” and “decent jobs” can be seen as ways to reconcile the demands for economic growth with the increasing scarcity of natural resources, and the challenges of poverty. This will require a significant transformation of the socio-economic system as we know it. The 2008/2009 global financial and economic crisis presented an unprecedented opportunity to bring about the necessary transformations, thus lending even more momentum to these concepts. The idea of a Green New Deal was thus put forward by several institutions (Green New Deal, 2008). Using the economic recovery packages as leverage, the green new deal focuses on ways to bring the world back on track from a combination of economic, environmental and social crises. The call has been heard by many governments: the Obama administration, for instance, included in the stimulus package significant spending on environmentally-friendly projects aimed at creating “green-collar jobs” and saving energy, and longer-term measures to safeguard the environment.

Silvica believes that the green economy concept is getting foothold in many parts of the world. Governments are acknowledging the importance of a healthy environment for a sustained economic growth.

[1] At its biennial meeting in February 2011, the U.N. Environmental Programme (UNEP) formally presented their “Green Economy Report” with detailed recommendations. U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon urged governments and business leaders to abandon Business-As-Usual (BAU), which he called “a global suicide pact”, in favor of massive investment of public and private funds in “sustainable development”. Implicit in the Report is the admission that earlier efforts have failed to meet the needs of the poor, and to stop the dangerous plundering that destroys the health of our living planet.