Greening Economic Growth: towards a Global Strategy for Europe

Is it possible to pursue environmental goals within our current economic model? In the context of unstable economic times, three of the major polluting countries, the United States, China and India, have until this point refused to sign a prescriptive climate agreement. In this context, it appears difficult for Europe to commit to important environmental measures, without running the risk of threatening its economic competitiveness. However, the urgent need for environmental action is beyond question. How do we reconcile economic competitiveness and environmental protection? How do we get the principal polluting countries to the negotiating table?

These issues will play a central role in the development of public policy relating to industry and trade in the years to come. The Fondation pour l’innovation politique has brought together an international team of experts to compare and contrast the European, American, Chinese and Indian positions, in order to devise a European strategy which marries environmental protection with economic competitiveness.


The evolution of environmental policy in the United States of America, India and China


In the three countries (United States of America, China and India) at the heart of multilateral negotiations on climate change, we observe an important gap between civil society’s growing expectations of action on climate change, recognised by government, and the latter’s reticence to sign prescriptive climate change accords.

In China and India initiatives have been developed to balance out their highly polluting economic development, in the United States, environmental concerns are being progressively addressed through investment strategies under pressure from civil society and the federated States. America’s advances are most notable in the areas of biotechnology, pollution detectors and nanotechnology.

Nevertheless, we do not expect a turn around in the international negotiating positions of our three major trade partners at the international conference in Poznan this December 2008, following the repercussions from the global financial crisis and the importance China and India place on their economic development.


Proposals for a European environmental strategy

Without waiting for action on the international front, the European Union must sent a strong signal to its trading partners, insisting on the importance of action to tackle climate change given:
The cost of global warming will rise to 5500 billion euros between now and 2050 (according to the Stern Report). Environmental protection and economic health are interwoven;
The positive results from the European Union strategy relating to the environment which has made the Kyoto Protocol a successful instrument and put in place a strict and effective regulatory framework (REACH);
The potential economic growth which may come from innovation in green technologies, and the relatively strong position of Europe’s countries with respect to future technology.

We propose a European strategy which harmonises public intervention with the mechanisms of the market. The Union should adopt an active commercial policy which integrates the value of the environment into its external trade relations.

An active commercially focused policy will favour economic opportunities for « green » products through incentives, such as the introduction of a mechanism to recognise carbon importation. Europe’s environmental objectives do not need to be seen to be in conflict with the principles of free-trade. It is merely a question of preserving the objective of free-trade without compromising our environmental goals. A policy of adjustment must be pursued to ensure the reciprocity and internalisation of the value of the environment in external trade as well as in internal and internal mechanisms of distribution. This strategy must be coupled with a European policy which leaves room for technological innovation, and leads to a set of competitive international environmental standards.

Contributors

Fondation pour l’innovation politique
Elvire Fabry – Director European-International Research
Frédéric Allemand – Senior Research Fellow
Damien Tresallet – Research Fellow

External experts
Sylvie Faucheux – University professor in economics, President of the Université de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Paul G. Harris – University professor in international environmental studies, University of Lignan (HongKong)
R. Daniel Kelemen – Associate professor in political science, Rutgers University, New Jersey (Etats-Unis)
Asa Persson – PhD in political science, Researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute
Lavanya Rajamani – Associate professor in environmental law, Oxford University, Cambridge
Benoit Vermander – PhD in political science, Director of the Ricci Institute of Taipei (Taiwan)

• ISBN: 978-2-917613-22-1
• Publisher: Fondation pour l’innovation politique
• Author: : under the direction of Elvire Fabry, Director of European-International research, and Damien Tresallet, Research Fellow
• Language: English

Price: 10.00 €

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