Public private regional dialogue to explore
green growth opportunities in the Greater Mekong
Financial systems
A green economy is one that will drive investment and financial flows towards restoring our environment and generating a better quality of life for all. Our coalition members share some practical suggestions on reforming our financial systems below.
April, 2013
Assessing the real risk of sovereign bonds
Humanity’s growing consumption of natural resources and ecological services is testing our planetary boundaries. Total human consumption of renewable natural resources and services is already one and a half times greater than the capacity of the biosphere to supply them. In other words, it takes the planet 18 months to generate the food, fibre, timber products, and carbon sequestration services that are consumed in one year.
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February, 2013
4 policies for a greener financial system
The shift to a green economy is not just about redirecting investment. It is also about changing our financial system architecture so that it builds, rather than undermines, a greener and fairer economy.
Our financial markets are currently guided by short-term goals and an overreliance on financial derivatives. This sends the wrong signals to investors and the real economy. The reform financial markets, which is already underway, needs to go beyond financial stability alone to address how the markets can build greener, fairer economies. The question is how?
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February, 2013
How to 'green' our financial system
Independent efforts by national governments to finance sustainability are important, but because the biosphere is global, environmental policy must be coordinated globally. Since the world does not have a global government capable of establishing hard law, the UNFCCC climate negotiations have so far led the development of a global framework for financing climate policy. However, there is a separate policy system that has long been capable of making decisions influencing massive financial flows worldwide: the financial sector itself.
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October, 2012
Corporation 2020? A review
Indian economist Pavan Sukhdev in Corporation 2020 has brought to bear the many facets of his career as a banker with Deutsche Bank, an advisor to the United Nations with his Towards a Green Economy Report and The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity and his studies for the Indian government on India's human and social c... Continue reading
September, 2012
A game of global roulette
The recession imposed by the financial debacle of 2007-2009 still plagues the world. The deeper reason lies in the murky secrets of money-creation and how financial sleight-of-hand enabled financial players to control politicians - even in democracies. Averting further social, financial and environmental crises and the miseries they cause to millions of citizens, taxpayers and small enterprises on Main Street, now urgently requires unmasking the mysteries of money.
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June, 2012
Banking on a new, green economy
The Credit Cooperatif is a banking group based in France that is owned by its clients and supports small businesses, trade associations and co-operatives. It finds its origins in the Social Economy movement in the late 19th century that led to the creation of today’s large mutual banking groups. As such, the Credit Cooperatif is committed to innovate on a regular basis in the area of responsible financial services linked with solidarity mechanisms.... Continue reading
January, 2012
The reform of money for a new green economy
In the first part of our analysis we showed that the root cause of the constant, and ultimately unsustainable, pressure for economic growth might lie in money, specifically in the “way how money is created in our present system”. We showed how this same thing is also the reason why there is always a lot of investments into environmentally destructive projects and always lack of funding for ecologically friendly projects, renewable energies etc. In this follow up article, we want to posit a simple solution that would transform our financial system:
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December, 2011
In-debt to a destructive economy
Those involved in the debates around Green Economy are probably familiar with the topic of decoupling economic growth and environmental problems. A lot has been written about slowing down growth, steady state economics, and even degrowth. There are different views on the transition path but the issue is that there can’t be infinite growth in a finite world. What is not usually in focus, however, is the underlying reason which makes growth inevitable and necessary. Might it be that this underlying cause is the money and banking system?... Continue reading
October, 2011
Looking back from 2020
It is the year 2020. We are looking back on a decade of initiatives that transformed our global economy. Efforts, ranging from global to local, sparked a momentum for a transition to an ethical, green economy.
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August, 2011
Pricking the carbon finance bubble
After the first year of the Dodd-Frank reform in the USA, the too-big-to-fail financial bubble still looms. The deficit debate revealed decades of unsustainable policies, practices and money-corrupted politics. Subsidised fossilised industries still dominate in energy, healthcare, agriculture, military and on Wall Street. Massive misallocations of capital led to the financial crises of 2008-9 (see FCIC), papered over by bailing out the perpetrators.
The USA was stuck with a symptomatic debt to GDP ratio of 90% and reckless, diversionary politicizing of the debt ceiling. The best way to cut the deficit: closing tax loopholes and putting Americans back to work, so as to restore lost tax revenues. MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan calls for restructuring US debt—and facing up to the global debt overhang.
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Glimpses of a green economy
We're not there yet, but the good news is there's already plenty of innovation underway to provide a glimpse of what's to come… Read more >>
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