Green Economy A key for Sustainable Economic Development

Transcription

1 Green Economy A key for Sustainable Economic Development Amit Sharma Ph.D Scholar (Management) ( ) Kalinga University, Raipur, C.G. Enrollment No (KU002MMXIV ) Abstract The sustainable development of society refers to three major components of human existence: economical, ecological and human. The first component is essential, in the sense that the aim of social and economical activity is to satisfy human needs or desires, resulting for the three dimensions of human existence: bio logical (present in the interactions with the physical, natural environment), social/collective/collective (as a member of some social groups), rational/psychological/spiritual (induced by internal traits, particular to one human being). The relation betwe en economical growth and the protection of the environment is an essential problem in the approaching sustainable development because the approach of economical growth not only by GDP, without trying a quantification o f medium and long term advantages, resulting from environmental protection is only a basic form, unacceptable in sustainable development analysis. The human component in sustainable development has a major 1

2 role, because the concept of equity incorporate several forms of manifestation in regard s of sustainable evolution of human society. Economic development is the main theme of social progress. The Green Economy is the necessity and inevitability for sustainable development. Due to the acceleration of globalization of economy, the influence for sustainable development is increasing. There is a complex opposite and united relationship between economic globalization and pollution. Industries are seeking a way to eliminate confrontation and get a solution. In social practice, we found that the Gree n economy is the best way to achieve sustainable development, and it is an important embodiment of the economic, social and ecological sustainability. The study aims at finding that how the process of globalization has affected the environment of the world and created ecological imbalances. Need of the present study is also reflected by understanding the changing nature of international political economy and world institutions Globalization is responsible for depletion of recourses and Global warming. Sustainable development is need of an hour today. Exponential growth of human population coupled with ways to attain high standards of living through technological advancement has resulted in widespread contamination of the environment at global level. During the past few decades rapid industrialization and exploitation of resources have resulted in disruptions in environment. Present research addresses all these issues. 2

3 Introduction The term Green Economy is defined as an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcit ies, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. The background report presented in United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2011) 1 was aimed to promote the green economy concept in order to stimulate more rapid global progress on sustainable development. However, it is important to recognize that a transition to a green economy is already underway. It began largely in response to the increased public awareness and strengt hened political will on sustainable development that were generated by the Rio Earth Summit in The challenge for Rio+20 is to build momentum behind the nascent phase of a transition to a green economy that is now underway. Market trends reveal an advancing green economy transition. The number of firms with ISO environmental management certification rose from under 40,000 in 2000 to over 200,000 in 2009; and over 40 per cent of registered firms are in developing countries. Eddy Lee, Marco Vivare lli (2006) 2 in their discussion paper titled The Social Impact of Globalization in the Developing Countries given that 1 THE GREEN ECONOMY: TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2011), Geneva, Switzerland. 2 Eddy Lee, Marco Vivarelli (2006), The Social Impact of Globalization in the Developing Countries, Discussion Paper No

4 The general aim of the project is to fill a gap in understanding - both theoretical and empirical the impact of globalization. Importantly, green is not just about environment. It is also about social responsibility. A growing number of firms now integrate social concerns into their business operations and interactions with stakeholders. Over 2,000 corporations in over 90 countries no w practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); a figure up from virtually zero at the time of the 1992 Rio Summit. A green economy also advances ethical trade through Fair Trade production chains which ensure that small developing country producers receive fairer terms of trade and better prices. Commodities production is also greening. Developing countries are increasing their participation in these new green markets. Some examples are illustrative. The global market for organic food and beverage produc ts is projected to reach $60 billion this year; a more than threefold expansion from 2000 levels. Organic farming is practiced on 37 millio n hectares in 160 countries; a nearly four -fold increase over the past decade. Most of this increase is occurring in developing countries in response to growing demand in developed country markets. Developing countries are also increasing their presence in sustainable harvested timber products markets. 4

5 Sengupta, Sonwani (2012) 3 in their paper said India has been witnessing a blinding pace of growth and development in recent times. There is talk of the country leapfrogging into the league of developed nations sooner than later. But this growth has raised concerns from sundry quarters as regards its basic texture and health. Research Methodology Sustainable development has become a major necessity due over exploitation of resources in the world. Present research is focuses on this theme of Globalization and its impact on Green economy and Sustainable development. Objectives of the study 1. Find out effects of globalization on environment in India. 2. To find out the impact of Green economy. 3. To analyse the social effects of Green Economy. Since the purpose of this study is to study implementation models and their feasibility for Globalization and Sustainable Development for Green Economy campaign. The study is based on a qualitative theoretical 3 Sengupta, Sonwani (2012), Sustainable Developme nt in India with Reference to Agricultural Sector, International Journal of Emerging Research in Management &Technology, ISSN: , Dec-2012, pp

6 research and the empirical finding consists of interviews performed in a qualitative way. There are currently two main conceptual framework s in which to approach a problem, namely the positivistic and the hermeneutic approach The positivistic framework focuses on drawing conclusions based on empirically determined knowledge. When working in a positivistic framework, the researcher aims to measure the research issue in an objective way. Furthermore, the researcher adopts an external position to the subject that should be examined and it is important that fact is separated from opinion. Under the hermeneutic framework, the aim is to reach a more holistic understanding of the research issue. It interprets text, human interaction, values and norms in a process that yields a better understanding of a subject, i.e. there is a focus on subjective consciousness 6

7 Results and Discussion According to the orientation 4 of the European Commission, strengthening the research on sustainable development and the link between science and policy are strategic targets to foster a factual Green Economy. It should be based on: i. Green Management: the systems of governance need efficient policies, regulators and control mechanisms which are going to be more and more crucial in next years to foster effective change in business models. The use of mandatory or voluntary tools will support this change and the training of stakeholders and operators will be fundamental for the real mainstreaming of the environmental governance as a cross-cutting action in all sectors of interest. ii. Green Production: there is a continuous need of enterprises committed in a sustainable way for the manufacture of high ecological value products and services. This objective is fostered by the enhancement of the industrial driven research and the setup of efficient, adequate and simple to use tools and methods. Moreover, the correct dissemination of the results and the appropriate communication to the citizens about the sustainable economic 4 Council of the European Union, Improving environmental policy instruments. Council conclusions, Brussels, December 21th,

8 development can contribute to avoid the upcoming green washing actions. iii. Green Lifestyle: the sustainable consumption addressed by European policies should target the growth of a new kind of consumer, a change of lifestyle and a different way of economic models implementation. iv. Green Technology: the contribution of innovation technology is a key issue, and it involves the development of adequate tools for the implementation of useful and environment -friendly technologies in compliance with the decrease of pollution and the sustainable exploitation of natural resources. Research on the study of various material which has been published in some credible source could identify Sustainable development indicators (SDI) 5 have the potential to turn the generic concept of sustainability into action. Though there are disagreements among those from different disciplines (and influenced by different political beliefs about the nature of the good society), these disciplines and international organizations have each offered measures or indicators of how to measure the concept. While sustainability indicators, indices and reporting systems gained growing popularity in both the public and private sectors, their 5 Maria I. Litido & Gaia Righini (2013), Tools and Methods for The Green Economy, - 8

9 effectiveness in influencing actual policy and practices often remains limited. A large and still growing number of attempts to create aggregate measures of various aspects of sustainability created a stable of indices that provide a more nuanced perspective on development than economic aggregates such as GDP (see the next paragraph). At the heart of the debate over different indicators are not only different disciplinary approaches but also different views of development. Some indicators reflect the ideology of globalization and urbanization that seek to define and measure progress on whether different countries or cultures agree to accept industrial technologies in their eco-systems. Other approaches, like those that start from in ternational treaties on cultural rights of indigenous peoples to maintain traditional cultures, measure the ability of those cultures to maintain their traditions within their eco-systems at whatever level of productivity they choose.11 A kind of successful indicators on which have captured the researcher s interest are the i. footprint Indicators The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth s ecosystems. It is a standardized measure of demand for natural capital that may be contraste d with 9

10 the planet s ecological capacity to regenerate. It represents the amount of biologically productive land and sea area necessary to supply the resources a human population consumes, and to assimilate associated waste. This approach can also be applie d to an activity such as the manufacturing of a product or driving of a car. The more used definition of the carbon footprint is: A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions. ii. The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or communit y or produced by the business. Water use is measured in water volume consumed (evaporated) and/or polluted per unit of time. A water footprint can be calculated for any well-defined group of consumers (e.g., an individual, family, village, city, province, state or nation) or producers (e.g., a public organization, private enterprise or economic sector). The water footprint is a geographically explicit indicator, not only showing volumes of water use and pollution, but also the locations. However, the water footprint does not provide information on how the embedded water negatively or positively affects local water resources, ecosystems and livelihoods (ref. N). One of the most recent indicators, it gives an indication of potential risk posed by a product based on its chemical composition, the 10

11 human and ecological hazard properties of the ingredients, and the exposure potential of the ingredients during its life cycle. iii. Environmental Accounts, the most diffused tool for a sustainable governance, has been developed to introduce environmental considerations in statistics measuring the economy and take into account environment in public strategies and politic decisions, i.e. it is the tool established in order to identify environmental aspects in human activities and improve the sustainability of adopted polit ics. In particular, environmental accounts can be used to analyse the impact of current Consumption and Production patterns on natural resources and the environment and the effects of economic policy measures. Much effort has been put into harmonising environmental accounts across Europe, including links to other areas of statistics as well as harmonised concepts and compilation guidelines to improve comparability and timeliness. We could also find out the major contribution of Green Economy as given below: i. Conservation of Critical Environmental Resources: To protect and conserve critical ecological systems and resources, and invaluable natural and man-made heritage, which are essential 11

12 for life support, livelihoods, economic growth, and a broad conception of human well-being. ii. Intra-generational Equity: Livelihood Securit y for the Poor: To ensure equitable access to environmental resources and quality for all sections of society, and in particular, to ensure that poor communities, which are most dependent on environmental resources for their livelihoods, are assured secure access to these resources. iii. Inter-generational Equity To ensure judicious use of environmental resources to meet the needs and aspirations of the present and future generations. iv. Integration of Environmental Concerns in Economic and Social Development To integrate environmental concerns into policies, plans, programmes, and projects for economic and social development. v. Efficiency in Environmental Resource Use To ensure efficient use of environmental resources in the sense o f reduction in their use per unit of economic output, to minimize adverse environmental impacts. 12

13 vi. Environmental Governance To apply the principles of good governance (transparency, rationality, accountability, reduction in time and costs, participation, and regulatory independence) to the management and regulation of use of environmental resources. vii. Enhancement of Resources for Environmental Conservation To ensure higher resource flows, comprising finance, technology, management skills, traditional knowledge, and social capital, for environmental conservation through mutually beneficial mult i stakeholder partnerships between local communities, public agencies, the academic and research community, investors, and multilateral and bilateral development partners. Conclusion Importantly, Green Economy is not just about environment. It is also about social responsibility. A growing number of firms now integrate social concerns into their business operations and interactions with stakeholders. 13

14 A green economy also advances ethical trade through Fair Trade production chains which ensure that small developing country producers receive fairer terms of trade and better prices. References 1. THE GREEN ECONOMY: TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2011), Geneva, Switzerland. 2. THE GREEN ECONOMY: TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2011), Geneva, Switzerland. 3. Africa Makasi, Krishna Govinder (2015), Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, Vol 6 No 4S3, pp Archana K (2013) in her paper titled as A Conceptual Study of Sustainable Development in the Era of Globalization, International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Vol 3, No 5, pp Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (Eds.). (2013). The globalization of world politics: an introduction to international relations. Oxford University Press. 6. Council of the European Union, Improving environmental policy instruments. Council conclusions, Brussels, December 21t h, Council of the European Union, Improving environmental policy instruments. Council conclusions, Brussels, December 21th,

15 8. Eddy Lee, Marco Vivarelli (2006), The Social Impact of Globalization in the Developing Countries, Discussion Paper No