Simon Upton
Between 1981 and 2000, Simon Upton was New Zealand’s Minister for the Environment, Minister of Research, Science and Technology and Minister of Health. He is now the Director of the OECD Environment Directorate.
Connie Hedegaard is EU Commissioner for Climate Action.
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Between 1981 and 2000, Simon Upton was New Zealand’s Minister for the Environment, Minister of Research, Science and Technology and Minister of Health. He is now the Director of the OECD Environment...
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George Soros is Chairman of Soros Fund Management and of the Open Society Institute. Photo : © AFP PHOTO / ERIC PIERMONT
Jeffrey David Sachs (United States): Distinguished American economist. Mr Sachs is Director of the Earth Institute, as well as a professor of sustainable development and health policy and management...
Jeffrey David Sachs (United States): Distinguished American economist. Mr Sachs is Director of the Earth Institute, as well as a professor of sustainable development and health policy and management...
Andrew Simms (United Kingdom): New Economic Foundation’s (NEF) Policy Director and head of the Climate Change program at the Centre for Global Interdependence. He has worked for a variety of...
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La Fédération Européenne du transport et de l’environnement (European Federation for Transport and Environment) a été fondée en 1990 et regroupe 49 organisations membres. Elle promeut un transport...
Professor emeritus in economy at Université de Lille 1, he is a member of the French CNIS (National Council of statistical information) and of the Stiglitz' commission, which shoud propose new...
Jean-Michel SEVERINO has been CEO of France’s international development agency (AFD) since 2001. After graduating from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de...
George Monbiot is a well-known investigation reporter and columnist for the British newspaper “The Guardian” as well as a member of the BBC Wildlife magazine’s advisory board. He is also the author...
Ricardo Petrella is an Italian economist. He received a doctorate from the University of Florence in Social and Political Science and started his career doing research on education and the place of...
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is an organization created by the United Nations (2001). Its objective is to contribute to the improvement of humans’ well-being within the context of...
Rio+20 : We need all jobs to become greener
30/05/2012 12:06 pm
Green growth, green economy and green jobs has become very popular words since the Rio summit in 1992/ 20 years later, Simon Upton, director of the environment division of the OCDE gives us an outlook on what was done to add sustainability to economy.
What did the 1992 Rio Earth Summit change?
This summit made the public realise that the economy, the environment and development are interdependent. This changed the terms of the debate but unfortunately, it did not change the direction of the economy.
What is green growth?
Green growth is a term that we coined at the OECD to describe a type of growth that promotes well-being in a manner that can be considered “environmentally-friendly”. This begins with making better use of natural resources by giving them added value. If we want growth whilst remaining green, pollution must be expensive, much more expensive than it is now, so as to encourage a more effective use of resources. This goes hand in hand with the development of new technologies.
What is happening in the biggest emerging countries (Brazil, Russia, China, India)?
Given the scale of these economies and their growth, I won’t be surprised if they become the leaders who will provide future technological solutions. Big countries like China and India have an advantage because they are still building their infrastructures, and as regards their situation, new solutions can be introduced at levels and to extents that have never been tested before. China is big enough to become the leader in any field. It is already selling solar panels and wind turbines to the rest of the world.
How many people in the world have green jobs?
It is indeed difficult to define what qualifies as a green job. If the economy "gets greener”, will a worker in a steel or a cement factory who has managed to drastically reduce his footprint be less green than a worker in the wind turbine industry? We need all jobs to become greener. Does the economic argument make it possible to better take into account the environment? “You cannot control what you cannot assess" But we still lack measuring tools as well as simple and precise indicators – such as energy efficiency – so that all countries can easily concentrate on these goals.
Can progress be measured?
Our management abilities have improved, but we have not yet really made the most difficult decisions, namely, putting a price on water and on pollution. Since it was created, the Clean Air Act (a law to control air pollution) has made it possible to save 2 000 billion dollars in health costs in the United States. Putting a figure on things makes some people realise how important they are. Changing subsidies can be a form of leverage: throughout the world, almost 500 billion dollars go to fossil energy whereas renewable energies only receive one-tenth of this amount.
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