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GREEN ECONOMICS: Workshop 1: A Christian Perspective

GREEN ECONOMICS: Workshop 1: A Christian Perspective. Tim Cooper. Christian Ecology Link conference End of the Age of Thorns: Surviving consumerism 5th March 2011. GREEN ECONOMICS: ORIGINS. Development of Green political philosophy Carson, Ward, Ehrlich, Schumacher, Capra, Porritt

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GREEN ECONOMICS: Workshop 1: A Christian Perspective

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  1. GREEN ECONOMICS: Workshop 1: A Christian Perspective Tim Cooper Christian Ecology Linkconference End of the Age of Thorns: Surviving consumerism 5th March 2011

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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)

  5. SUSTAINABILITY

  6. HAPPINESS

  7. PROSPERITY… …WITH A PURPOSE (CTBI report 2005) …WITHOUT GROWTH (SDC report 2009)

  8. 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

  9. 12 STEPS TO A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY Building a Sustainable Macro-Economy - not dependent on growth and debt 1. Developing macro-economic capability 2. Investing in public assets and infrastructures 3. Increasing financial and fiscal prudence 4. Reforming macro-economic accounting Protecting Capabilities for Flourishing - freeing people from materialistic consumerism 5. Sharing the available work and improving the work-life balance 6. Tackling systemic inequality 7. Measuring capabilities and flourishing 8. Strengthening human and social capital 9. Reversing the culture of consumerism Respecting Ecological Limits - establishing clear resource and environmental limits on economic activity. 10. Imposing clearly defined resource/emissions caps 11. Implementing fiscal reform for sustainability 12. Promoting technology transfer and international ecosystem protection. SDC, 2009

  10. 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

  11. 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’?

  12. THE CHRISTIAN GOD • Where does He fit in? • A view from the USA

  13. 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?

  14. 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

  15. WHAT MIGHT IT MEAN • Identifying specific Biblical practices • Keeping the Sabbath • Opposing usury • Applying broad ethical principles • Work • Creation care • Social justice • Generosity/philanthropy

  16. 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

  17. FOR DISCUSSION • What risks does the Government face if it addresses over-consumption in an ‘era of austerity’? • Should the Government introduce a price floor for energy prices and/or introduce a fuel tax escalator? • Is localisation an appropriate economic strategy or a form of dangerous insularity? • Would Christian economics inevitably be ‘green’?

  18. RESOURCES • New Economics Foundation • Green Economics Institute • Jubilee Centre • Association of Christian Economists

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