Can the economy ever be green?

Introduction

It is the opinion of many Americans that political influences expect them to be mildly pessimistic over the state of the economy. Green economy is a concept that is considered controversial since it does seem simple and one whose time is at hand. Proponents for a green economy support the notion that natural resource, decreasing pollution levels and curbing the emission of greenhouse gases is the only way to address climate change. In essence adverse climatic changes have caused widespread destruction the world over through disease, natural disasters and scarcity of essential natural resources such as safe drinking water and food. On the other hand, opponents for the green economy declare that it is overly expensive to implement and could to the loss of sources of livelihoods of many people. More so the suggest that this would lead to very high energy costs raising inflation to unsustainable levels. This essay seeks to address this topic intensively, focusing on the pros and cons of a green economy.

What is a green economy?

According to the United Nations economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), a green economy is one that advocates for improved and sustainable human wellbeing, addressing environmental degradations and ensuring sustainable ecological balances (UNECE, 2012). In other words, a green economy calls for a resilient economy which calls for improvements in the quality of human life within the ecological boundaries set by planet Earth. A green economy also entails the merging of economic endeavors with social as well as environmental considerations ideal for sustainable development so as to realize long-term economic growth through the investment in strategies that are environmentally friendly with solutions rooting for enhanced social equity (UNECE, 2012).

Prior to the Rio 20+ conference, scholars presented papers and numerous publications offering insights as to the meaning of a green economy. These papers and publications presented guiding principles towards the green economy model which were incorporated in the final Rio+20 document, setting the pace for the implementation of the model. The proposed principles provided that an ideal green economy has to have features incorporating economic, social and environmental issues.

As provided for on the Rio+20 final resolution, the UN projected the green economy as a model for ensuring sustainable development and by extension the eradication of poverty (UNECE, 2012). This conception is now viewed as core towards the renewal of efforts contributing towards, propelling the wider agenda for sustainable growth and more so contributing towards the attainment of internationally agreed upon development goals more so the millennium development goals (UNECE, 2012).

Opponents of a green economy

http://brookesnews.com/greens/green-economic-policies-would-devastate-living-standards/

References

UNECE. (2012). What does green economy mean?: United Nations economic Commission for Europe. Retrieved on 7^th November, 2013 from http://www.unece.org/greeneconomywelcome/what-does-green-economy-mean.html.