Green economy in context of sustainable development and poverty eradication
Is it possible to create a green economy which is inclusive and socially just? How do we adequately address the effects of power relations, politics and the social dimensions of environmental problems? How might a green economy that respects cultural variety, regional diversity and democratic accountability be created? And in imagining, articulating and implementing such a green economy roadmap, how will the multitude of possible pathways to sustainability and potential contributions of marginalised communities feature?
New work at Sussex explores the new politics and economy of environment and nature. This includes the complex politics and business models of accelerating the process of ‘de-carbonising’ the global economy. With trade-offs about with the planet’s biodiversity also coming in to play as part of achieving a green economy, how might poor people, policy and business proceed?
The controversial issue of ‘green grabbing’ – the appropriation of land and resources for environmental ends – is explored through exciting new work. The vigorous debate on ‘land grabbing’ already highlights instances where ‘green’ credentials are called upon to justify appropriations of land for food or fuel – where large tracts of land are acquired not just for ‘more efficient farming’ or ‘food security’, but also to ‘alleviate pressure on forests’.
These are some of the contentious issues tackled by resources in this section about fostering a green economy in the context of sustainable development, poverty eradication and social justice.
Experts
- Melissa Leach, STEPS Centre director, IDS Professorial Fellow
- Peter Newell, Professor of International Relations, School of Global Studies
- Tom Tanner, IDS Research Fellow
Resources
Film: Second Nature, Melissa Leach and James Fairhead
Film: The Carbon Con: Investigating the true cost of offsetting, Peter Newell.
Film: Carbon Markets: Trading with our future, Peter Newell.
Publications
- Hiraldo, R. and Tanner, T.M. (2011) The global political economy of REDD+: Engaging social dimensions in the emerging green economy, UNRISD Occasional Paper Four: Social Dimensions of Green Economy and Sustainable Development. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva.
- Leach, M. and Fairhead, J. (1996), Misreading the African Landscape: Society and Ecology in a Forest-Savanna Mosaic, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Leach, M., Fairhead, J., Fraser, J. and Lehner, E. (2010) Biocharred Pathways to Sustainability? Triple Wins, Livelihoods and the Politics of Technological Promise, STEPS Working Paper 41, Brighton: STEPS Centre.
- Leach, M and Fairhead, J. (2003), Science, Society and Power: Environmental knowledge and policy in West Africa and the Caribbean. Cambridge: CUP.
- M. Leach and J. Fairhead, (1998), Reframing Deforestation: Global Analysis and Local Realities – Studies in West Africa, London: Routledge.
- Leach, M and Mearns, R. (Eds) (1996), The Lie of the Land: Challenging Received Wisdom on the African Environment Heinemann.
- Lockwood, M. and Lent, A. (2010) Creative Destruction: Placing innovation at the heart of progressive economics London: IPPR.
- Peter Newell: Climate Capitalism: Global Warming & the Transformation of the Global Economy.
- Mazzucato, M. (2011), The Entrepreneurial State, DEMOS.
- Newell, P. (2012) Globalization & the Environment, Polity.
- Scoones, Ian. (ed.). 1995. Living with Uncertainty. International Institute for Environment and Development, ITP Ltd: London.
- Keeley, J. and Scoones, I. (2003). Understanding Environmental Policy Processes: Cases from Africa. Earthscan: London.
