Green growth takes more than a technology fix

It is indeed encouraging to see that “green growth” is not just seen as an either environmental, economic or socio-cultural issue, but a hybrid of all matters and levels of society. In fact, the overall theme of the first Green Growth Council meeting, as I see it, gathered around the idea of encompassing economic and environmental sustainability with livability and prosperity in society at large.

One of the aims of the meeting was to give the councilors, counting high profile politicians, CEO’s and leading scholars the chance to test their ideas, share thoughts and together discuss the most pressing challenges and opportunities of green growth focusing on three main areas: documentation, demonstration, and communication. Yet, with such rich variety of high profile contributors, I personally really didn’t expect agreement. Having that said, however, consensus was indeed present at this first of several Green Growth Council meetings.

Green Growth takes more than a technology fix
Regardless of academic, political, or economic field of expertise all invited councilors agreed on the necessity to “greener” growth globally. There was broad agreement too that the risks and possibilities of green growth through an energy system transformation are similar to the industrialization, rail and steam transportation, and information technology, that in different times in history, shaped a momentum in technological advance, production, distribution and use.

Today’s transformation of the carbon-based energy system depends on a complex balance between economy, technology and habitat – people’s perceptions and daily actions – which means that creating a green society will require much more than linear thinking, clean technology, and intelligent energy solutions. Green Growth will take much more than a technology fix. This way of thinking correspond with one of the key points made by the world known British Sociologist an GGL councilor Lord Anthony Giddens at the World Climate Solutions in Copenhagen last year, saying that he fears that the way forward is obstructed by lack of understanding of the mechanisms behind it. Watch the entire speech here.

So, what are the key building blocks of green growth?
Although the key issues of the meeting were much alike, a number of councilors stressed the fact that the present technology-based strategy to achieve green growth objectives, and the priorities of this strategy, must vary from one country (and one city) to another. Developing countries may need a different policy mix from more advanced economies, for instance. On a more technical issue, there was general agreement on the approach to broader the very notion of green growth, which is currently mainly technology driven.

For example, due to generate green growth on all levels, growth linking environmental data to economic matters, demographic data with qualitative surveys, has an important role to play. Some councilors pointed to the need for organizational innovation, including in the public and private sector, changes in city planning, mobility patterns and daily practices, amongst others. The role of the consumer was also highlighted by several delegates. In addition, it was suggested that public-private partnerships, large scale investments, alongside supply chain management should be essentials to this matter. Yet, before investments are made benchmarks and standards are still needed. The question is: Could there be a ‘city standard’ or scheme guiding urban development locally as globally – comprehensively?

Moving beyond the monolithic discussion
By other councilors a dissonance was accentuated in the current green growth discourse revolving around few singular aspects rather than emphasizing the complexity of the system as a whole. Let’s not reintroduce and reinforce the linear approach – greening growth – will be taking place in-between the lines. In fact, it might neither be energy nor growth as such, but the surrounding aspects related to daily life, which were supposed to correspond with the issues discussed at the Green Growth Council meetings. 

The importance of introducing a broader – and to some extend more holistic approach to green growth – was acknowledged all the way around the table. So, in order to bridge the gap between technology, economy and human needs and behavior, we must now more than ever recognize that the narrow view and monolithic approach to this belong to the past while emphasizing that prosperity drives from a far more diffuse pattern. Accepting this complexity might be easier said than done, still, this is the only way to go.

What now?
Making the energy production an integral part of the city does not make the city more boring. The idea of “hedonistic sustainability” is based on a postmodern thought that integrating and overlapping systems actually add value to the existing whether speaking of a single building, a city or even society at large. So, based on the insight of the Green Growth Council meeting makes me conclude that generating growth from green might be the overall aim. However, moving beyond green growth as term and goal emphasizing the system as a hole, I believe, is one step further in order to accomplish this mission.

Green Growth Leaders is not a one-off exercise or a close alliance of stakeholders, but an ongoing and constantly evolving platform of interconnected and overlapping initiatives. We are learning all the time – and it is probably more accurate to say that we are working towards generating green growth at this stage – and that the shared views and insights from the Green Growth Council meeting qualify the way in which growth from green will evolve thanks to the councilors and partners in Green Growth Leaders.