Economic Development is the Only Way Forward

Some of the most passionate supporters of the environment argue that we cannot make the necessary changes within the current consumer oriented capitalist system. They point to the fact that growth in the 20th century was all about resource depletion.

Economic growth is not an end, but rather a means to an end. Because economic growth is premised on the concept of increasing quantity, it may be more productive to frame the issue in terms of economic development. Economic development looks at growth as a means of achieving a higher level of individual and societal well-being. While economic growth is about quantity, economic development is about quality. A well developed economy is one that meets people's needs and provides well-being for everyone.

Economic development is based on the collective good which is ultimately about creating more value per person.

UNEP's Executive Director Achim Steiner said in the statement: "With 2.5 billion people living on less than two dollars a day and with more than two billion people being added to the global population by 2050, it is clear that we must continue to develop and grow our economies. But this development cannot come at the expense of the very life support systems on land, in the oceans or in our atmosphere."

Growth and resource depletion are not inexorably linked and given the urgency, the green economy is the only solution we have of capable of addressing the environmental and social threats we face.

We simply do not have time to rebuild society anew, nor is it reasonable to wipe the slate clean. In the form of economic development, growth can serve the earth and its inhabitants. However future growth will not be based on wanton resource depletion, it will be about increased efficiency and productivity.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Greener Japanese Companies

There is a long list of Japanese companies that are investing in sustainable innovation. Many of the world's best known Japanese brands are seeing the wisdom of green.

Sharp has built a solar-cell factory that raised its output to 1.3GW last year, from 790MW the year before. According to Ernst & Young, we could see a fourfold growth in Japan’s solar panel market by 2020.

Sanyo has re-emerged as the world’s largest maker of rechargeable batteries as well as a producer of solar panels. On April 1, 2011, Sanyo Electric became a wholly owned susbsidury of Panasonic.

Panasonic is expanding its energy businesses, from electric-vehicle batteries to hydrogen fuel-cell generators, and hopes to more than triple revenues from the segment to Y3,000bn ($36.4bn) by 2018. Like many other companies in Japan, Panasonic is also making its manufacturing operations greener, doubling the ratio of recycled materials used in its products and raising the recycling rate for its own industrial waste to virtually 100 per cent.

Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors have begun selling battery-driven electric vehicles, building on a green-car market pioneered by Toyota's top-selling Prius hybrid.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Democrats the Environment and Green Jobs

Over the last couple of years the Democrats have passed legislation that staved off economic calamity. Contrary to the Republican attacks ads, the President's stimulus package has helped to create jobs and is poised to do more in the next couple of years.

A January 2010 report by the President’s Council of Economic Advisers found the clean energy provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act had already saved or created 63000 jobs and they are expected to create more than 700,000 green jobs by 2012.

Green careers could play an important role in the ongoing recovery of the US economy and they are crucial to future job growth. Green holds more potential for real economic growth than any other industry.

Clean energy is a national security issue and an issue of global competitiveness. President Obama wants to advance green industry so that the US can be a competitive leader.

Many Democrats understand that we do not need to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment. The President and many Democrats seek to create green jobs by promoting clean technologies, for this generation and future generations.

A recent Pew Research Centre poll showed just 16% of Republicans say the earth is warming because of human activity, compared to 53% for Democrats.


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