The concept of the green economy presented in three reports from leading global organizations is examined in this paper. These include the United Nations Environment Programme's Towards a Green Economy, the World Bank's Inclusive Green Growth and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Towards Green Growth. The main critiques of the concept of the green economy are also considered. Contrary to views that the green economy merely represents ‘green-washing’ and tweaking of the current economic system, this paper concludes that the green economy has the potential to effect substantive and transformative change towards the goal of sustainable development.
This analysis of the emergence since 2008 of the green economy agenda and the related idea of ‘green growth’ focusses upon the articulation of these discourses within key international economic and environmental institutions and evaluates whether this implies the beginning of an institutional tra
The rhetorical zeal for green enterprise as a global fix for the tripartite challenges of economic recession, environmental degradation and social inequality is increasingly visible in state and non-state pronouncements around the globe under the banner of ‘The Green Economy’.
This paper, written for the United Nations High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons, seeks to 1) Explain the relationship between the sustainable development, green economy and green growth concepts; 2) Summarize the state of knowledge regarding the feasibility and ultimate potential of green growth;
The multi-dimensional nature of the current global crisis requires a holistic approach in addressing economic, social and ecological problems.