Economy

From Green City Wiki

Economy - can by seen on the local, regional, national, continental and global level - each of them affects one another.

[edit] Local level

Socially and environmentally responsible “Ethical business” develops in a green city.

In a green city, financial capital is not the only thing considered to be important to the local economy. Social and environmental capital are of equal importance. The first is measured by the level of trust between citizens, their engagement in activities benefiting the common good, the degree of life satisfaction, strength of social ties etc. The second – by e.g. the level of biodiversity and stocks of renewable and non-renewable natural resources. That is why the green city encourages any economic activity which is people friendly and improves the quality of our lives, whilst not harming the environment or future generations.

There are a number of ways in which “ethical business” can develop in the modern green economy: in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors, and in ecotourism, art and culture, leisure, organic farming and environmental protection, green transport and preventative medicine. Through the implementation of appropriate urban policies which encourage investments in education, scientific research and innovation centres, green business creates sustainable, local jobs thus becoming the driving force behind sustainable urban development.

The Greens are in favour of a high level of diversity in the economy, which is strengthened in particular by the existence of small and medium sized businesses (including social enterprises), linked to the local community. One of the responsibilities of the city authorities is to provide these businesses with the appropriate conditions for fair competition – also with multinational corporations.

One method of creating support for the green economy is by introducing environmental tax reform, which is being promoted by the Greens. This relies on lowering taxation on labour and investments (positive goods), whilst raising taxes on pollution and the ineffective use of natural resources and energy (negative goods). This creates an incentive for business to protect the environment instead of harming it.

[edit] Did You Know?

• The municipality of Genk (Belgium) has installed 2000 m2 of solar panels on the roof of its town hall, making it the biggest ever solar panels installation on a public building. The solar panels should generate 200,000 kWh per year. This amounts to an annual reduction of 60 tonnes of CO2.
• The society “Disabled people for the environment EKON” (“Niepełnosprawni dla Środowiska EKON”) has created 444 green jobs in Warsaw for disabled people (including 258 mentally disabled persons) in collecting and segregating recyclable waste packaging.