What is the meaning of “Green Economy”? What was at stake at Rio+20?
The shortest response to this very complex matter is from a document that the The International Coordination Group (CG) of the People’s Summit for social and environmental justice put out before the actual events of the United Nations and the People’s Summit of global social movements happened last week. Here are a few bullet points. The full story is below and can be found at http://cupuladospovos.org.br/
- The discussions [of the United Nations] focus on a set of fake proposals called “Green economy” and on the implementation of a new international environmental governance, that would facilitate their setting-up.
- The current production and consummation system – represented and imposed by corporations, financial markets and governments – produces and accelerates global warming, hunger and malnutrition, extinction of forests and biological, social and cultural diversity, chemical contamination, drinking water depletion, oceans acidification, land grabbing and commodification of all areas of life in towns and countries.
- The “Green economy”, contrary to what its name suggests, is one more stage of capitalistic accumulation. Nothing in the “Green economy” questions or substitutes the economy based on extraction of fossil fuels, or the models of consumption and industrial production. On the contrary, this economy opens new territories to the economy that exploits people and environment, increasing the myth that unlimited economic growth is possible.
- The failed economic model that has been dressed in green, aims at submitting all the vital cycles of nature to the market’s rules and to the domination of technology, privatization and commodification of nature and of its vital functions, as well as traditional knowledge, strengthening speculative financial markets through carbon markets, environmental services, compensations for biodiversity and REDD+ mechanism (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation)
