•  united nations
• Tuesday, May 10, 2011
• Inter Press Service

The world must follow a greener path to economic growth--a transition that is possible without fundamentally restructuring price structure, according to Rae Kwon Chung, Director of the Environment and Development Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

As part of the nineteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, Chung presented his vision for the upcoming Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro next year to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit. 'Rio+20 could be an opportunity for mobilizing public commitment as well as creating a strategy for a global package,' Chung said.

He discussed Green Growth, a strategy designed to achieve a Green global economy. It is a two-step process, involving the internalization of a Green economy into invisible structures (such as prices, regulations, values, and individual lifestyles) and into visible structures (like the built environment, city designs, transport, and other infrastructure).

If successfully implemented, Green Growth will independently generate profit, employment, and increased economic growth—unlike its alternative, 'Brown Growth,' which is only sustained by subsidies, Chung noted.

The Rio+20 conference should be a chance 'to work together to make this Green Economy happen,' said Chung, rather than a debate about the real necessity of Green growth policies.

Brown Growth is unsustainable not only because of climate change, but because of rising food, oil, energy, and resource prices, according to Chung. He foresees an economic and ecological crisis and said it is only a matter of time until the world is forced to reroute its economic structure.

Unlike carbon taxation, Chung's proposed reform would not take the form of an additional tax burden. Instead, Green Growth entails shifting taxes away from other sectors, towards carbon emissions and pollution. Green Growth policies would maintain revenue neutrality while providing a double dividend: improving ecological efficiency and simultaneously increasing employment and growth.

While tax neutrality provides new incentive for fiscal reform, 'the Green Economy is still a vision and not a reality,' Chung ceded. In many cases, he said, 'there is a gap between vision and policy options.'

To be successful, Green Growth policies must be implemented at both the national and global level, and Chung hopes that the Rio+20 conference will provide an opportunity for national leaders to work together towards greening their economies.

While critics question the feasibility of Green Growth policies, they do not deter Chung. 'A better question is, how can we make it happen? Because we do not have any other choice,' he said.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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