The move towards a more sustainable lifestyle has largely been a question of financial willingness and ability. At an individual level, products that are sustainable often come at a higher price and often require more time, a valuable commodity for most, to purchase or to make. At a corporate and political level, though there is still a cost associated with sustainable development, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand why this continues to hinder economic change, begging the question; will capitalism always win out?
Despite the huge number of companies trying to capitalize off the green revolution, from Tesla to vegan restaurants to BYO container supermarkets, there are still a huge majority of companies who fail to see a benefit of entering the green economy. The UN has promoted the green economy over the past three decades as investment in the green sector. A series of three reports were released at the time, promoting “(i) economic recovery; (ii) poverty eradication; and (iii) reduced carbon emissions and ecosystem degradation; and proposed a framework for green stimulus programs as well as supportive domestic and international policies”. While many regions have made an effort to adopt policies in line with this, most are still lagging in our sustainable development.
With the state of current politics, it is understandable how slowly this movement has developed, given that current US president Donald Trump has retracted much of the humanitarian and environmental policies put in place during the Obama administration. With regular changes in government in democratic nations and the difficulty of passing policies through parliament, this movement often faces adversity.
Comparatively, there are regions that have exemplified how budding determination can lead to somewhat revolutionary change, which begins to develop this green economy. In 2010 the UNEP released the Green Economy: Developing Countries Success Stories report promoting examples of success stories ranging from China’s 2005 Renewable Energy Law to the shift toward organic agriculture in Uganda solar energy in Tunsia. The report outlines how these changes have led to economic development, benefits for the communities and the environmental benefits of each change.
More locally, the province of British Columbia has developed it’s green sector within six sectors; clean and alternative energy, energy management and efficiency, green building, environmental protection, carbon finance and investment, and green knowledge and support. According to one report released by the province, “these sectors generated $18.4 billion in revenues for BC companies and contributed roughly $15.3 billion to the provincial GDP…”. In the provinces main city Vancouver, the push to become the greenest city through policy changes, has led to a 47% increase in green and local food jobs between 2010 and 2016. Overall the city has increased green jobs by 23% since 2013 and celebrates itself as the greenest city in North America.
Aside from the environmental benefits of the green economy, it is argued by some that there can be resulting positive economic growth when looking beyond the immediate detriments of making a change. A huge part of the aversion to green business comes from the initial financial requirements attached to changing practises. However, long term development is associated with benefits such as job creation by sectors like biofuels and renewable energy sources. The regulations associated with this also allow for the growth of local economies through heightened domestic sales.
For emerging countries this development has the important potential to not only increase food security through cleaner and more efficient agricultural production, but also to save money long term through investment in alternative energy sources. This would not be an instant change and would require heavy investment in the sector, but has the potential to be extremely beneficial.
The key reason the sector has been slow to develop is the initial financial burden required, something that is not attractive to short standing governments and profit-driven corporations.
Having said that, there are an abundance of examples of this happening already and it seems that the change is slowly happening. While it is difficult to see nations like the United States making this economic shift in the near future, there is evidence that other nations are beginning to see the benefits of developing the infrastructure and policies required.
By Annalisse Crosswell
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