Tuesday, May 12, 2009

green economy ?

As several clever people have pointed out already, the current financial crisis and the resulting massive state intervention is a unique chance for governments to redirect the economy not only towards financially sustainable operations but also towards a ecologically sustainable economy (and towards mitigation of climate change in particular).

Detailed analysis of the "green component" of state rescue packages in various parts of the world has shown, however, that this opportunity is used only very little. Most recently, the UK government has disappointed those who hoped for a green budget. Read my news feature in today's issue of Current Biology (issue 9,p. R345):

Green shoots
(restricted access)

Summary:
While the UK government presents a budget hoped to tackle economic as well as environmental challenges, other countries have taken the lead in harnessing the economic interventions for ecological gains.

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