In search of the green economy

Lazarus Sauti

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ith the current trends leading the earth to disaster, a green economy offers a key pathway towards a better and more sustainable future for Africa and her citizenry.

Greening the economy involves driving the African continent with things that are not a threat to the environment.

Therefore, a green economy is one that results in improved human well being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities (UNEP, 2010).

It is an economic development model based on the three pillars of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental.

Furthermore, a green economy contributes to alleviating poverty as sustained economic growth, enhancing social inclusion, improving human welfare and creating opportunities for employment and decent work for all, while maintaining the health functioning of the earth’s ecosystems.

Since the African continent is closely linked to nature in terms of livelihoods, political leaders in the continent should think about the green economy, especially the linkage between poverty eradication and the environment.

It is a fact that in a green economy, natural resources are a source of economic and social development. In short, natural resources are critical to poverty eradication and Africa is blessed with different natural resources.

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gain, the developmental path for building a green economy should maintain, enhance and rebuild the natural capital as a critical economic asset and source for public benefit, especially for poor people whose livelihoods depend strongly on nature.

Adam Mohamed Nour of Sudan’s Ministry of Environment, Forests and Physical Development once said, “The promise of the green economy can only be achieved if there are sufficient resources available for that purpose.”

Therefore, African leaders and stakeholders in the environmental management sector should chip in by providing financial resources, technology resources as well as establishing new sustainable development goals.

Former Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki explains: “A sustainable development financial strategy would facilitate the mobilisation of financial and other resources to assist Africa to make the transition to the green economy more effectively.”

Thus, financial institutions in the African continent can play a vital role in ensuring a better environment.

Writing in a South African newspaper, Michelle Nel, said, “Banks must become exemplary corporate citizens by funding environmentally and socially sound programmes and projects.” 

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ufficient effort is needed to make sure that the green economy is the key pathway towards environmental protection and sustainable development.

“If we do not deploy sufficient effort, we will never reach sustainable development,” Minister Nour said.

The mandates of African policy-makers should also be to safeguard nature, on which most African economies depend. Project developers in Africa, governments and policy makers should craft strong Environmental Impact Assessment policies and religiously execute them to ensure minimum negative effects and impacts on the environment.

Furthermore, project developers and players in the environment sector in the continent must also adopt strong environmental and social sustainable frameworks across the continent’s resource based sectors (mining, manufacturing, tourism and agriculture) for the sectors to effectively contribute to sustainable development.    

More so, solutions should be hinged on protecting and helping indigenous Africans. Africans should benefit from any form of innovation.

Accordingly, policy makers, NGOs, economists, investors, engineers, scientists, industrial leaders, carbon traders, and brokers, clean emerge producers, energy consumers, toward daily low carbon life practitioners and advocators should come together to discuss more practical perspectives on green economy, promotion of sustainable or renewable energy, and exhibit technical resolutions to solve and predict the existing issues.

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rankly, the earth is the only common feature that connects nations the world over and that it must be preserved and protected before any meaningful development can take place. Consequently, Africa must reverse the alarming loss of species, reduce and limit emissions of green house gases, degradation of air quality, preserve ecosystems and minimise the ecological footprint, all in a growing tendency scenario of the global population as a whole, the worthy and necessary aspiration of eradicating poverty in the world and achieving decent full employment.

African governments also need to take actions to protect the environment and encourage green technology in order to facilitate the pathways for good businesses and economy. The shift to green economy will result in new opportunities, more efficient and therefore, more financial savings and even a more productive, healthier spending.

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he continent also needs aggressive sensitisation and orientation programmes to highlight the benefits of going green for the economy because green economy has become inevitable in view of glaring environmental hazards.

The goal and vision of a more eco-friendly society should be shared by all including Africa as a continent in a bid to enhance sustainability and integrity of our ecosystem. Indeed, the African continent must embrace the green economy as a key pathway to development.