(Seven-minute read)

At the moment we are inundated with rhetoric that the world is going to change due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Now the big question yet to be answered is how in the midst of a coming a Global economic depression to restate countries’ economies.

But the truth remains that few politicians are prepared to take substantive leadership towards changes that could alienate powerful interest groups that benefit from the current paradigm.

It appears that we have a brain drain as existing legal frameworks and regulations do not encourage improved environmental and economic practices or innovations.

However, issues that created a sense of solidarity among civil society and academia in
earlier decades are now back on the table thanks to the Pandemic.

While the rationale for change is clear even with the evidence of climate change, and the possibilities of future pandemics there are a number of barriers or challenges to making this transition.

Key issues affecting the rate of transition to a green economy include entrenched interests supporting the status quo, lack of data and information, organizational obstacles, reaching competitive levels of risk and return for financing, and the need to scale up.

It’s about getting everyone – from governments through to the business community – to work together to do things differently, and this requires a common language.

Whether that is at the international level, the national level, or within the business community. All levels need to be striving towards the same goals, and the indicators provide a common way of talking about this – allowing a better-managed with system corporate social responsibility.

Green Economics principles should be developed to meet the needs and vision of each country and each sector. The goal is not to simply arrive at a list of principles but to engage in discussions with stakeholders about the priorities and approaches to moving toward a green economy.

Environmental well-being contributes to economic well-being when the environment is
able to properly carry out its functions. For longterm prosperity through equitable distribution of economic benefits and effective management of ecological resources; it must be economically viable and resilient, self-directed, self-reliant, and pro-poor. 

The need for a convergence – that all sectors need to work together to deliver these goals.

The first thing to say is that a green economy would not have to be any different than the regular economy.

Supply and demand. 

What role does public policy play in encouraging and facilitating the green economy?

1. The green economy is a means for achieving sustainable development.
2. The green economy should create decent work and green jobs.
3. The green economy is resource and energy-efficient.
4. The green economy respects planetary boundaries or ecological limits or
scarcity.
5. The green economy uses integrated decision making.
6. The green economy measures progress beyond GDP using appropriate
indicators/metrics.
7. The green economy is equitable, fair, and just – between and within countries
and between generations.
8. The green economy protects biodiversity and ecosystems.
9. The green economy delivers poverty reduction, well‐being, livelihoods, social
protection, and access to essential services.
10. The green economy improves governance and the rule of law. It is inclusive;
democratic; participatory; accountable; transparent; and stable.
11. The green economy internalizes externalities.

Thanks to COVID-19 we’re going to see a huge amount of capital flood into sustainability.  It is already happening if at a slow pace.

The government can spark a clean energy economy by setting the rules and letting the private sector scale up.

Of course, finance will not be the only factor in this transition, but rather the forthcoming Economic Depression.

What better way to stimulate growth by securing self-efficiency in green energy (Energy production results in the emission of 80 percent of global carbon dioxide.)   

What better way to promote Tourism that depends on the environmental quality of a destination – i.e. – clean air, water, and land. It depends on the natural environment for its wide array of ecosystems, for example, beaches and coastal areas, mountains, and forests. 

What better way to stop pollution that has an impact on global warming has a potential cost from flooding and hurricane damage, low agriculture yields, and population resettlement.

What better way to realize that GDP is increasing while emissions are going down.

What better way to leave a legacy for the next generation.

What better way to engage the whole population.

What better way to make wealthy countries finally realize that the greenest investments also look like the wisest. 

What better way for the European Union to live up to its name ( Union) by Investing in the sunshine of the south with energy grants to establish solar farms. The north could manufacture them creating millions of new jobs in their economies, in Italy, Spain, Greece.  

The benefits arising from the green economy are extended to all levels of population and all countries, as well as interconnected among the features of mutual influence and common development: the more countries and companies “go green”, the more the economy grows; the more the economy grows through “green plans”, the more research and development on the green economy will be conducted. The more green economy dominates markets, the sooner the world will be a clean place after more than two hundred years of increasing.

That there is a need for a new model of economic development but unfortunately, that is what it is Rhetoric.

All human comments appreciated. All like clicks and abuse chucked in the bin.