La croissance verte est-elle possible ?

Infographie : F. Descheemaekere

[Euractiv]

L’emploi dans les technologies propres en vue d’accélérer la croissance verte est tout à fait logique pour des décideurs politiques progressistes, les ONG et les entreprises. Ces idées sont au cœur de l’initiative de l’ONU « Énergie durable pour tous » (SE4ALL). Certains économistes, professeurs d’université et spécialistes de l’environnement mettent de plus en plus en doute cette hypothèse.

Critiques of ‘green growth’ have often been articulated by business lobbies opposed to climate action, but also by environmentalists and socialists, who argue that infinite growth is impossible in a finite natural world. One EU official speaking to EurActiv on condition of anonymity said that achieving the emissions cuts to contain global warming to the UN’s 2 degrees Celsius target, while maintaining growth was an “outlandish” notion. “If you want growth in the way that we define it as exponential – a year-on-year increase – and project it into the future, then you have an incredible gap between the increase in total economic output and the decline in total emissions that you rely on,” he said. Indeed, many climatologists now see the 2 degrees target as doomed.
Last month, a report from Germany’s green Heinrich Böll Foundation argued that increased energy savings do increase productivity and result in income gains, but that these in turn also stimulate demand.

Lire : euractiv.com