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A Green Economy

In: Rethinking the Market Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Jean-Jacques Lambin

    (Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca
    Université catholique de Louvain)

Abstract

Sustainable development is a widely used term, but its implementation in real life raises difficult operational questions. For environmentalists, the term is directly connected with natural capital and as such is defined as development that does not exceed the carrying capacity of the environment, that is, the size of the economy at which resources depletion is exactly compensated by renewal processes for a species. The cost of exploiting the earth is largely absent from the prices in the marketplace. The greening objective is a major progression in economics because it proposes to put a price on the use of natural resources too often thought of as free goods and of unlimited availability.1 The goal of a green economy is to align two objectives considered as mutually supportive: saving the planet and stimulating economic growth2 or, more pragmatically, making sure that the next generation will enjoy at least the same well-being as the present one. The green policy proponents have argued that green technology, green taxes, eco-conscious behaviours and the like could contribute, not only to protect but also to restore the environment, by improving bad business practices of corporations that are destroying the world. The greatest challenge confronting the capitalist system is the climate change problem.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Jacques Lambin, 2014. "A Green Economy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Rethinking the Market Economy, chapter 4, pages 59-85, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-39291-6_4
    DOI: 10.1057/9781137392916_4
    as

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