The Political Economy of Ecology: Prospects for Transforming the World Economy at Rio Plus 20
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-5899.2011.00152.x |
| Author | Peter M. Haas |
| Date | 01 February 2012 |
| Published date | 01 February 2012 |
The Political Economy of Ecology:
Prospects for Transforming the World
Economy at Rio Plus 20
Peter M. Haas
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Political Science
Abstract
This article assesses the prospects for advancing to a green economy at Rio Plus 20 through the perspective of
international political economy writings on economic transformations and regime governance. In order to achieve
robust investment in revolutionary new technologies a clear international political project is required that provides a
common purpose, clear regulatory and legal rules, and formal organisational efforts for resource mobilisation,
compensation of losers, and enforcement. It concludes with an appraisal of efforts underway to create the political
foundation for a green economy, suggesting the creation of a new international organization for green technology
innovation, and assigning the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to environmental science assessment.
The next act in the slow transition to a more sustainable
world will occur next year, at the UN Conference on Sus-
tainable Development (UNCSD), to be held in Rio de
Janeiro in June 2012 (Rio Plus 20). So far, progress in
preparing the Conference, and the broader transition for
which it is designed to promote, remains disappointing.
Ban Ki-Moon’s recent invitation for ‘bold new ideas’ does
not reflect well on the existing pool of policy ideas. Nor
does it bode well for the Conference.
This essay describes the process and broader project
with which the UN governance efforts are directed,
appraises the political impediments to progress in devel-
oping sustainable industry, reviews the policy efforts
developed so far, and concludes with a few suggestions
about how to build support for transforming the world
economy at Rio Plus 20 through new institutions.
Progress to date
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) authorized
Rio Plus 20 in March 2010 through Resolution 64 ⁄236
(A ⁄Res ⁄64 ⁄236). Preparatory work for the Conference has
been underway for a year, guided by the UN Depart-
ment of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) office in
New York. After the first preliminary preparatory commit-
tee meetings (78 of March & 16–18 of May 2010 in New
York), the first intersessional meeting (10–11 January
2011 in New York) and the failed UNCSD meeting in
May 2011, discussions have been quite impoverished in
terms of imagination and passion, with few imaginative
initiatives or indications of leadership coming from gov-
ernments. If Rio Plus 20 is to succeed, the fall 2011 ses-
sion of the UN General Assembly will have to develop a
clearer roadmap for it.
Rio Plus 20’s formal agenda, (http://www.uncsd2012.
org/rio20/) while still preliminary, has three major com-
ponents. It calls for efforts to accelerate the shift to a
green economy; reforms in international environmental
governance, largely focused, so far, on UNEP reform; and
the institutional framework for sustainable development.
Rio Plus 20’s underlying goal is to advance the transi-
tion to a green economy (United Nations General Assem-
bly 2010; Pfund 2011; United Nations Department of
Economic & Social Affairs 2011). While the outlines
remain dim, such a concept clearly encompasses shifting
as much economic activity to forms that are more
energy efficient, pollute less, and are carbon neutral. This
involves both hardware components – new technologies
and sectors – and also software components – embrac-
ing policies that encourage greener production and
remediation while reversing policies that encourage
unsustainable polluting and energy inefficient activities.
The green economy is a challenging prospect for
developing the next global large scale socioeconomic
system, because its proponents aspire to create a new
political ecology of development: one that is organized
around an intersecting set of new environmentally
friendly technologies and that engage a global policy
network of private and public actors involved in the
green technology sector. This goal is no less than seek-
Global Policy Volume 3 . Issue 1 . February 2012
ª2012 London School of Economics and Political Science and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Global Policy (2012) 3:1 doi: 10.1111/j.1758-5899.2011.00152.x
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