Towards the Development of a Sustainable 'Green Economy'? (Vers le developpement d'une 'Green Economy' durable?)

Abstract

Despite the late awareness and rather still limited commitments of public and private actors towards a better protection of the environment and a more sustainable development, we have observed in recent years the emergence and a progressive development of various environmental friendly new technologies, products, services and processes. Nevertheless, one can but only wonder if we are witnessing the birth of a genuine Green Economy whose emergence, diffusion and long-term sustainability conditions would be already guaranteed. The present paper aims at providing a first record of the (still fuzzy) traits of this Green Economy and of the nature of the environmental innovations and the private and public initiatives benefiting to it. Drawing from the experience of the most advanced countries (or regions) in this domain, we want also to show that if there is no One Best Model, it appears that only a coherent combination of measures relating both to environment policies and innovation policies may actually encourage the development and diffusion of radical environmental innovations and hence sustain the long-term growth dynamics of a Green Economy.

Note: Downloadable document is in French.

Keywords: Environmental Innovations, Green Economy, Industrial Emergence Dynamics, Public Policies, Sustainable Development

JEL Classification: E61, L5, O3, Q01, Q55