Is Green Growth Good for the Poor?

The developing world is experiencing substantial environmental change, and climate change is likely to accelerate these processes in the coming decades. Due to their initial poverty, and their relatively high dependence on environmental capital for...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Dercon, Stefan
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE TERMS ADVERSE IMPACTS AGRICULTURAL GROWTH AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AIR POLLUTION AIR QUALITY ALLOCATION ALTERNATIVE GROWTH PATHS ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS CAPITAL COSTS CAPITAL INVESTMENTS CARBON CARBON ENERGY CLEAN AIR ACT CLEAN ENERGY CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY CLEAN WATER CLEANER WATER CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE RESILIENCE CLIMATIC CONDITIONS COAL COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE CONSUMERS CONSUMPTION SMOOTHING COST OF FUEL COUNTERFACTUAL DEFORESTATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING WORLD DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS DEVELOPMENT POLICY DEVELOPMENT REPORT DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH DISCOUNT RATES DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTS DROUGHT ECONOMETRICS ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC ASSETS ECONOMIC CHANGE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC GROWTH RATES ECONOMIC INTEGRATION ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY ECONOMIC RECOVERY ECONOMIC REVIEW PAPERS ECONOMICS EFFICIENCY GAINS ELASTICITY EMISSIONS EMPIRICAL BASIS ENERGY PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS EXPECTED RETURNS EXPORTS EXTERNALITIES EXTERNALITY EXTREME EVENTS EXTREME WEATHER EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS FARM WORKERS FARMERS FISH FISHERIES FOOD PRICES FOOD SECURITY FOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOSSIL FUELS FRESH WATER FUEL PRICES GDP GDP PER CAPITA GLOBAL POVERTY GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH CONTEXT GROWTH MODEL GROWTH POLICIES GROWTH PROCESS GROWTH PROSPECTS GROWTH RATES GROWTH THEORY HIGH GROWTH HIGH POVERTY HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN HEALTH IMPACT ON POVERTY IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE INCOME INCOME GROWTH INCOME RISK INCOME SMOOTHING INCREASE GROWTH INCREASING RETURNS INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE INEQUALITY INFORMAL INSURANCE INFORMAL INSURANCE MECHANISMS INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT INSURANCE INSURANCE MARKET INTERNATIONAL TRADE JOBS LABOR PRODUCTIVITY LIQUIDITY LIVELIHOOD SECURITY LIVING CONDITIONS LIVING STANDARDS LONG RUN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MACROECONOMIC POLICIES MARKET FAILURE MARKET FAILURES MICROECONOMIC ANALYSIS NATURAL CAPITAL NATURAL RESOURCES OPPORTUNITY COST OPPORTUNITY COSTS OUTPUT GROWTH PERSISTENT POVERTY POLICY INSTRUMENT POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL ECONOMY POLLUTION POOR POOR COUNTRIES POOR HOUSEHOLDS POOR POPULATIONS POSITIVE EFFECTS POTENTIAL OUTPUT POVERTY ALLEVIATION POVERTY CHANGE POVERTY DYNAMICS POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY PERSISTENCE POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY TRAPS POVERTY-REDUCING GROWTH PRIVATE GOODS PRO-POOR PRO-POOR GROWTH PRODUCERS PRODUCTION PROCESSES PRODUCTIVE ASSETS PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH PROPERTY RIGHTS PUBLIC INVESTMENT PUBLIC SECTOR RAPID GROWTH REAL INCOME REDUCING POVERTY REMOTE AREAS RETURNS TO SCALE RICH COUNTRIES RISKS OF CLIMATE CHANGE RURAL RURAL AREAS RURAL LIVELIHOODS RURAL POVERTY RURAL SETTINGS SAFETY NETS SANITATION SAVINGS SECTOR ACTIVITIES SHADOW PRICES SKILLED LABOR SKILLED WORKERS SMALLHOLDER AGRICULTURE SOCIAL COSTS SOCIAL PROTECTION SOIL DEGRADATION SOIL EROSION SPATIAL PROCESSES STRUCTURAL CHANGE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TAXATION TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS URBAN AREAS URBAN POOR WATER POLLUTION WATER PRICES WATER PRICING WEALTH WELFARE EFFECTS WELFARE GAINS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/10/16835124/green-growth-good-poor http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12082

Description
Summary:	The developing world is experiencing substantial environmental change, and climate change is likely to accelerate these processes in the coming decades. Due to their initial poverty, and their relatively high dependence on environmental capital for their livelihoods, the poor are likely to suffer most due to their low resources for mitigation and investment in adaptation. Economic growth is essential for any large-scale poverty reduction. Green growth, a growth process that is sensitive to environmental and climate change concerns, is often seen to be particularly helpful in this respect, leading to a win-win in growth and poverty reduction terms, with additional gains for the cause of greening the planet and avoiding further disastrous environmental change. This paper argues that such a view ignores important trade-offs in the nature of "green growth" strategies, stemming from a poor understanding of the sector and spatial processes behind effective poverty reduction. High labor intensity, declining shares of agriculture in gross domestic product and employment, migration, and urbanization are essential features of poverty-reducing growth. The paper contrasts some common and stylized green-sensitive growth ideas related to agriculture, trade, technology, infrastructure, and urban development with the requirements of poverty-sensitive growth. It finds that they may well cause a slow-down in the effectiveness of growth in reducing poverty. The main lesson therefore is that trade-offs are bound to exist; they increase the social costs of green growth and should be explicitly addressed. If not, green growth may not be good for the poor and the poor should not be asked to pay the price for sustaining growth while greening the planet.

Is Green Growth Good for the Poor?

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