Dear Colleagues,

Over the last two decades, especially in the aftermath of the Rio+20 Conference in 2012, the concept of a green economy has rapidly evolved from being an intriguing idea on the margins of environmental economics toward becoming a mainstream component of the policy discourse on sustainable growth and development (Carius et al. 2016, UNEP 2011). The concept of the “green economy” implies the development of low carbon and natural resource-efficient settings, which prevents loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. A green economy does not replace the concept of sustainable development. Continuous degradation of natural capital and environmental amenities cannot assure long-term economic growth and high standards of living. Hence, long-term sustainable development comes to its own only over broadening the sustainable development perspective by including the green growth concept.

The Towards a Green Economy report of the UNEP demonstrates that an inescapable trade-off between environmental sustainability and economic growth is a myth rather than a reality: The transition to a green economy could serve as a source of economic growth, the engine of decent jobs, and reduction of poverty. The theoretical and empirical elaborations of the last decade show that a sophisticated combination of the carbon tax and research subsidies could trigger redirection of technological change toward cleaner technologies (Acemoglu 2012). Despite a broad consensus on the merits of the greening of economies in the context of the Global South, there is little theoretical and empirical evidence on the nexus and compatibility between green economic growth and poverty eradication targets within the framework of the least developed countries. Furthermore, there is little theoretical evidence on the possible role of international development cooperation in achieving both economic and environmental sustainability targets. Hence, this Special Issue is dedicated to the relationship between environmental upgrading policies and poverty reduction dynamics in the context of developing countries.

The papers within the framework of this Special Issue will be authored by both academic observers and practitioners in green economy and its effects on the poor in developing countries, which are mostly operating within the informal sector of the economy (Loewenstein and Bender 2017). 

Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Loewenstein
Dr. Elkhan Richard Sadik-Zada
Guest Editors

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• green growth
• green finance
• job creation effects
• poverty eradication
• informality
• ecological modernization
• climate justice
• development cooperation
• carbon border tax