Towards Paris Climate
Conference 2015
Crossed Glances on the Green Economy
Andrew Wardell was invited to IOB as a guest
lecturer during the second semester of the academic
year. He has over thirty years of experience working
on natural resource management issues in SouthEast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa countries. He
is currently Senior Manager of Research Capacity
and Partnership Development at Center for
International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Prior
to this new position, he was Research Director
of CIFOR’s Forests and Governance Program.
His education background is Forestry (MA) and
Philosophy (PhD).
Several alternatives to the ‘green economy’
approach exist. These include multiple Corporate
Social Responsibility, Corporate Accountability and
Social Enterprise initiatives that aim to promote
sustainable investments and practices through
certification schemes, and compliance with more
rigorous social and environmental safeguards.
In addition, the Center for International Forestry
Research (CIFOR) is leading the development of The
Landscape Fund with a diverse array of partners
including The Munden Project.
The 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference will take place in Paris in
December 2015. The objective is to achieve a binding and universal agreement to
contain global warming under 2 degrees. The difficulty to reach an agreement is
much linked to the priorities of states around the world, i.e. there is a heated debate
around whether environmental protection should be the state’s priority over other
imperatives, especially economic growth. The “green economy” appears, to policy
makers, to be the perfect response to the sceptics for its alleged balance between
ecology and economy. However, criticisms of this concept have emerged because it
purports to be a solution to environmental problems which the very same mechanism of market capitalism has played a role in creating.
For its May edition, Exchange to Change interviewed three renowned scholars in
environmental governance and asked for their opinions on this new strategic buzz
concept of the “green economy” and its possible alternatives.
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Rural producers face major land use (agricultural,
agro-forestry and forestry) risks in the form of
natural disasters (climate variability, extreme
weather events and disease) and other risks
associated with production, technology, financing,
regulatory/policy/legal, and price volatility. These
risks result in a loss of income to the producer,
through negative impact on the yield, price, assets,
and livelihoods, further increasing the probability
of default. Along with land rights issues and a lack
of collateral, agricultural, agroforestry and forestry
loans in developing countries are viewed as highrisk investments. The Landscape Fund is a networkbased system for financing sustainable land use in
developing countries by ensuring longer maturities,
lower interest rates and more flexible repayment
schedules. Its purpose is to transform agriculture
and forestry investments by delivering capital in a
new way that combines innovative approaches from
finance, science and technology. CIFOR intends
to provide evidence-based, reliable and credible
scientific information to policy makers at local,
national and international levels to service demand
from small and intermediate borrowers who
currently rely on high-interest credit from traders or
unregulated lenders.
Melissa Leach has recently been awarded with an honorary degree from the University of Antwerp. She is a
social anthropologist specialising in environmental and
science-society issues. Her research interests include
social and institutional dimensions of environmental
and technological change, and issues of knowledge,
power and citizen engagement. She is currently the
Director of the Institute of Development Studies in
Brighton, UK. Prior to this position, Melissa Leach directed the STEPS (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Centre.
Imperatives of climate change and other forms of
environmental degradation