Friday, March 4, 2011
Environment vs. Economy
There has been a lot of discussion in recent months about the impact of environmental regulation on the economy. It strikes me as odd that efforts to improve the environment are seen as a potential drag on the economy when in reality there isn't a strong causal link between the two. In fact, it's worth noting that prior to the financial crisis, the UK managed to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by roughly 17% while its economy grew by 45% since 1990.
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This debate is picking up ahead of Rio+20 in the UN system, where Green Economy (Green Growth) is one of the main themes. The outcome won't have any legally binding effect, but hopefully some positive momentum can be created, because right now, save a few, both developing and developed countries are resisting it, despite the potential of green investment to create jobs.
ReplyDeleteBut whether they takes the form of investment or regulation, it's amazing how efforts to curb greenhouse pollutants get a bad reputation.
There's a more rigorous analysis of the impacts of our efforts based on the Copenhagen pledges in this month's Energy Policy, “Environmental and economic effects of the Copenhagen pledges and more ambitious emission reduction targets”, by Everett. B. Peterson, Joachim Schleich and Vicki Duscha. Link here: http://www.umweltdaten.de/publikationen/fpdf-l/3998.pdf
I'm sure there will be another more based on Cancun and any proposed US legislation - when it looks like it actually has the potential to get passed.