Green Economy in the South. Negotiating Environmental Governance, Prosperity and Development – an International Conference

The International Conference on the Green Economy in the South is concerned with the momentum gathering behind the idea and practice of the Green Economy, coinciding with financial instability and continued economic woe in the North, but generally happier economic circumstances in the South. Economies are growing and ‘green economic initiatives’ are part of these changes. Carbon payments, ecotourism, community-based wildlife management, Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and offsets by mining companies exploiting new resources are all a part of a landscape offering new commodities, opportunities for commercialization and integration into wealth-generating markets. And so too are growing incidents of land (and water) grabbing, displacement and alienation of resources required for wealthy tourists, bitter local conflicts over the locally-defined rules of access to carbon (e.g. firewood) purchased by wealthy northerners, green washing and other harmful activities that either cause poverty, or else distribute the fortune and misfortune of the green economy inequitably. Equally demands for alternatives to market-driven environmental degradation, and for market-dominated solutions are also gaining strength and coherence.