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