The Oxford Handbook on the Greening of Economic Development

Economic development, in its traditional formulation, ignores the impact of decisions made regarding energy, resources, and finance. The standard choices made are to use stocks of fossil fuels, stocks of resources and their linear flow, and generic finance. The implications of this are now clear. An alternative is being crafted which is based on flows of renewable energy and renewable fuels, on circular flows of resources, and on greening of financial instruments, such as equities and bonds. This involves a vast industrial revolution, creating the 'next' Great Transformation of the global economic system, one that is creating an economy that emulates life through its interconnections and circular flows. The shift is comprehensive, global, and all-encompassing. Greening of economic development is driven by industrial policy, technological capability, and enhancement of industrial capacity. With over fifty contributors, this volume draws on specialist expertise to provide a comprehensive overview of this process of greening of economic development. It demonstrates how the shift in energy, resource flows, and finance is a process rather than an endpoint; that it is compatible with economic growth; that it is powered by economic drivers such as cost reductions generated by experience curves; and that at the vast scale and rapid pace required it calls for a global Green Deal. The handbook frames novel objectives through greening that take state action and guidance in fresh directions and argues that the strategies involved are as relevant for emerging industrial economies creating new industries as to developed economies looking to transform themselves. Overall, it emphasizes how 'greening' creates a self-sustaining economy that does not cost the earth.