The Green Economy Proposal in Latin America: Continuity of the Globalization after Its Crisis

Friday, 3 July 2015: 4:00 PM-5:30 PM
CLM.B.06 (Clement House)
Pablo Sigfrido Corte Cruz, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico; Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
Pablo Sigfrido Corte Cruz, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico; Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
At the end of the first decade of the current century, one of the most severe economical crises was raised that called into question the globalization processes that have been imposed from the΄70’s. From that point on international institutions such as The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), The World Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) among others have been centred on the development and establishment of green economies. The main doctrine of these formulations is that is possible to achieve the economic growth reducing its adverse effects in the environment through a less use of natural resources (natural capital), reducing the pollution rates, recovering the fresh water springs, provoking the innovation in the energy generation starting from alternative sources and the reduction in the consumption of its fossil origin among other ideas. Despite the fact that the approach has been already stated and it covers all the diverse sectors of the economic life, and although it seems to be complete and inclusive, a lot of authors have criticized the proposals concerning to the development of the economic policy. 

 The criticisms have been varied; they are based on the pure conception of the globalization as a path to economic subjugation of the highly developed economies over the less developed ones that is why the proposal of a green economy maintains this approach. The principal of the assessments made over there is the insistence over the necessity of the economic growth and its compatibility with the viability´s vision; a lot of authors set out that the same idea concerning to the rising of the economic indicators is pointing out to the environmental sustainability, since the current production system is not compatible with a vision that can safeguard the natural resources. For the other side the critics are noting the proposals done by the international institutions in regards to the “green speech”, because they put an emphasis to that is for the market means the way in which the environment and the natural resources can be rescued and used in an efficient way, in fact the same OECD΄s exposition and The World Bank give it the concept of environmental services and natural capital, that implies a factor that can be utilized for the dispersion (or conservation) and/or to the production processes. In the light of the above, then the green economy vision is a continuation of the globalization over the resources. 

When The World Bank’s statistical information is examined, it is know that the majority of the high developed countries show a downward trend concerning to the use of energy with a fossil origin, for the other side economies or with a low or medium development level and high rates of economic growth present high levels of usage of this kind of energy specially on the Latin-American economies.