The good news is that many businesses have started seeing growth opportunities in the green economy; the bad news is that the urgency to transit to a renewable resource-based economy is still at a distance. Indeed, given the current pace of transitioning, it may seem like a matter of two steps forward and one step back. But the author of Environmentally Sustainable Growth, Steven Cohen, remains optimistic as the transition passes the tipping point of popular acceptance. He believes that such is the urgency that politically polarized countries may even come together for a unified response.
The book focuses on how the move to maintain material wealth without jeopardizing natural ecosystems has run apace in the United States and could be a model in ecological leadership for developing countries. Quoting environmental sustainability initiatives by over a hundred leading private companies, Cohen makes it clear that the government’s proactive role is critical for action on the ground by the private sector.
Especially interesting is the insight that wealth accumulation by tech giants rarely generates enough income opportunities for society to actively contribute to the transition. This is likely to be a stumbling block in the proposed transition to a renewable economy.
{{/usCountry}}Especially interesting is the insight that wealth accumulation by tech giants rarely generates enough income opportunities for society to actively contribute to the transition. This is likely to be a stumbling block in the proposed transition to a renewable economy.
{{/usCountry}}New technologies, new services, new knowledge and new jobs are emerging, but there remain plenty of unsustainable business practices in the world. And the people who benefit from those businesses do not shy away from defending them. It’s no wonder then that those whose jobs are under threat offer resistance to sustainability everywhere. Given the fact that the transition to a renewable economy will mainly take place in the private sector, governments will have to develop robust and non-partisan regulatory mechanisms to ensure that the benefits are equitably shared. Cohen describes a range of public policy and infrastructure initiatives that can encourage cleaner production but does not emphasise their impact on the socio-economic realities of participating societies.
The director of the Earth Institute’s Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management at Columbia University, Steven Cohen offers a pragmatic approach to how societies can transform themselves to become more sustainable. Written with rigour and concern, this volume proposes a set of inter-related responses to environmental challenges but cautions that the transition to environmental sustainability will only take place in stages. Optimistic expectations are that the transition in the United States will be well underway by 2030, and largely completed by mid-century. The book depicts an appealing future that assures a certain standard and quality of life while also protecting the planet.
Environmentally Sustainable Growth is an ambitious undertaking that attempts to trigger a credible response from governments, institutions and society at large. Counting on the inherent goodness of humans, Cohen stresses on the need to break through ignorance, blind ideology and misplaced priorities to make the planet a valuable habitat for all living creatures, now and in the future. This is a multidisciplinary book that will be informative for students, practitioners, analysts, and academics whose work focuses on environmental sustainability.
In sum, Cohen views the environmental crises as an opportunity to transit into a wiser way of living.
Sudhirendar Sharma is an independent writer, researcher and academic.