Switching to green economy a holistic shift across entire society
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Industrial policy has been at the heart of most countries’ public policy in one form or the other for centuries. The global financial crisis and now the Covid-19 pandemic have led governments to introduce big economic stimulus packages that include support to domestic industry, highlighting once more the importance of industrial policy.
Building on the work already happening in the country, the just transition to an inclusive green economy needs to take a central place in these efforts and shape a Green New Deal for SA.
In its broad sense, industrial policy can be viewed as government interventions and policies that attempt to alter the structure of the economy towards sectors, technologies or activities that are expected to offer better socioeconomic development prospects than would occur in the absence of such interventions.
As such, the goals that can be pursued through industrial policy are varied, generally a function of time, place and context. So what should be the role of industrial policy in SA now?
Most would agree that the past is no blueprint for the future. SA is the most unequal society in the world. Poverty and unemployment are rife. The country is one of the most carbon-intensive economies globally and its ecological footprint has overshot its biocapacity for decades.
The National Development Plan targets an environmentally sustainable, climate-resilient, low-carbon and just society. In other words, it requires a just transition to an inclusive, green economy.
Yet, problematically, the green economy is too often seen as a sector. Most policy documents in SA understand the green economy as an add-on to the rest of the economy.
But there is only one economy, one society. Indeed, the transition to an inclusive green economy is a society- and economy-wide transformation. It is a socioeconomic process with deep implications for society and the economy.
The green economy is still too often seen only as an environmental concept. While put on the map by the range of environmental crises we face, it is rather a socioeconomic framework. It is enshrined in the concept of sustainable development, now structured around 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Such goals range from eradicating poverty and ensuring access to modern energy, water and sanitation services, to fostering innovation and designing a climate-compatible and climate-resilient world. In the end, building an inclusive green economy aims to jointly achieve economic development, social progress, a more inclusive economy and environmental sustainability. ...
Building on the work already happening in the country, the just transition to an inclusive green economy needs to take a central place in these efforts and shape a Green New Deal for SA.
In its broad sense, industrial policy can be viewed as government interventions and policies that attempt to alter the structure of the economy towards sectors, technologies or activities that are expected to offer better socioeconomic development prospects than would occur in the absence of such interventions.
As such, the goals that can be pursued through industrial policy are varied, generally a function of time, place and context. So what should be the role of industrial policy in SA now?
Most would agree that the past is no blueprint for the future. SA is the most unequal society in the world. Poverty and unemployment are rife. The country is one of the most carbon-intensive economies globally and its ecological footprint has overshot its biocapacity for decades.
The National Development Plan targets an environmentally sustainable, climate-resilient, low-carbon and just society. In other words, it requires a just transition to an inclusive, green economy.
Yet, problematically, the green economy is too often seen as a sector. Most policy documents in SA understand the green economy as an add-on to the rest of the economy.
But there is only one economy, one society. Indeed, the transition to an inclusive green economy is a society- and economy-wide transformation. It is a socioeconomic process with deep implications for society and the economy.
The green economy is still too often seen only as an environmental concept. While put on the map by the range of environmental crises we face, it is rather a socioeconomic framework. It is enshrined in the concept of sustainable development, now structured around 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Such goals range from eradicating poverty and ensuring access to modern energy, water and sanitation services, to fostering innovation and designing a climate-compatible and climate-resilient world. In the end, building an inclusive green economy aims to jointly achieve economic development, social progress, a more inclusive economy and environmental sustainability. ...