Greening of Development Strategies

Abstract

While the evidence accumulates that many countries are fashioning aspects of green development to complement their black, fossil-fuelled industries, the case for a wholesale adoption of green development strategies is seldom made. Instead it is frequently assumed that green development can only follow black development, and that it is only for countries that have reached a certain income level. In this paper the argument is reversed, and the case for a greening of development strategies even in the case of the poorest countries, is mounted. The advantages that can flow from a greening of development are identified and strategies for capturing these advantages, based on notions of leapfrogging and capturing latecomer advantages, are developed. The case for greening is independent of issues of global warming, but the fact that green development strategies combat climate change, and ameliorate conditions for the least advantaged, are in their favour.