GREEN ECONOMICS: Workshop 1: A Christian Perspective
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Transcript of GREEN ECONOMICS: Workshop 1: A Christian Perspective
GREEN ECONOMICS: Workshop 1:
A Christian Perspective
Christian Ecology Link conferenceEnd of the Age of Thorns: Surviving consumerism 5th March 2011
Tim Cooper
GREEN ECONOMICS: ORIGINS
• Development of Green political philosophy– Carson, Ward, Ehrlich, Schumacher, Capra, Porritt
• Scientific studies of global environmental trends– Club of Rome (Limits to Growth)
• Emerging critique of conventional economics– TOES (The Other Economic Summit) 1980s– Boulding, Daly, Pearce, Jacobs, Ekins, Costanza
DISSATISFACTION WITH NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS
• Rooted in scientific world view – Instrumentalist / utilitarian– Assumption of human rationality
• cf. ‘bounded rationality’ - cognitive limitations
– Assumption that individuals are inherently materialistic and selfish
• Choices based on wanting more rather than less• Decisions based on ‘utility maximisation’ i.e. personal benefit
– Flawed quantitative bias– Unrealistic models
• Simplistic market structures• Information not available to consumers
GREENING ECONOMICS
• Emergence of ‘heterodox’ forms of economics– New schools of thought (behavioural, institutional,
ecological)
• Ecological starting point– Limits (critique of economic growth)– Biomimicry (cyclical)
• Intrinsically multidisciplinary– Sustainability’s three pillars (economic,
environmental, social)
• Focus on quality of life– Happiness and income (Easterlin, Layard)
SUSTAINABILITY
HAPPINESS
PROSPERITY…
…WITH A PURPOSE (CTBI report 2005)
…WITHOUT GROWTH (SDC report 2009)
THE CHRISTIAN SOCIAL CONSCIENCE
“The thinking of all the mainstream denominations…has converged around one key proposition: that under the right conditions, economic growth can serve God’s purposes.”
CTBI, 2005
Building a Sustainable Macro-Economy - not dependent on growth and debt1. Developing macro-economic capability2. Investing in public assets and infrastructures3. Increasing financial and fiscal prudence4. Reforming macro-economic accounting
Protecting Capabilities for Flourishing - freeing people from materialistic consumerism5. Sharing the available work and improving the work-life balance6. Tackling systemic inequality7. Measuring capabilities and flourishing8. Strengthening human and social capital9. Reversing the culture of consumerism
Respecting Ecological Limits - establishing clear resource and environmental limits on economic activity. 10. Imposing clearly defined resource/emissions caps11. Implementing fiscal reform for sustainability12. Promoting technology transfer and international ecosystem protection.
SDC, 2009
12 STEPS TO A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY
ECOLOGICAL / GREEN ECONOMICS
• Highlights interdependence and co-evolution of human economies and natural ecosystems– natural capital
• Based on ‘strong sustainability’– limits to technology / material substitution
• Explicitly value-based (normative) – equity
• Distinct from environmental economics– application of conventional economic tools to
environmental problems
UNRESOLVED TENSIONS
• Levels of growth – Is ‘recession’ necessarily good?
• Trade and the environment– Are localisation and internationalism in
conflict?
• Policy impacts and the poor– Are higher energy prices ‘fair’?
THE CHRISTIAN GOD
• Where does He fit in?
• A view from the USA
CHRISTIAN ECONOMICS
• Does it exist?– Few notable scholars– Different methods, standards of evidence, types of
knowledge
• A cross-disciplinary relationship between theology and economics?
• Application of Christian ethics to conventional economics?
• Use of economics in interpreting Biblical text?
• Would it take only one, distinctive form?
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
• Daly and Cobb’s four principles– A check against idolatry– A perspective that transcends one’s own– Commitedness and directed commitment– Understanding our relation to the future
WHAT MIGHT IT MEAN
– Identifying specific Biblical practices• Keeping the Sabbath• Opposing usury
– Applying broad ethical principles• Work• Creation care• Social justice• Generosity/philanthropy
POLICY INSTRUMENTS
• Regulatory– Standards e.g. inefficient refrigeration
• Market-based– Taxes and subsidies e.g. landfill tax,
renewables obligation certificate
• Voluntary– Informal agreements with industry e.g. green
claims code
FOR DISCUSSION
1. What risks does the Government face if it addresses over-consumption in an ‘era of austerity’?
2. Should the Government introduce a price floor for energy prices and/or introduce a fuel tax escalator?
3. Is localisation an appropriate economic strategy or a form of dangerous insularity?
4. Would Christian economics inevitably be ‘green’?
RESOURCES
• New Economics Foundation
• Green Economics Institute
• Jubilee Centre
• Association of Christian Economists