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Alternative Indicator: Green GDP
The Green Gross Domestic Product is an economic growth index that quantifies and calculates the environmental consequences of that growth.
What is it?
China's the only major nation that's used Green Gross Domestic Product to measure its economic viability. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao announced in 2004 that the Green GDP would replace the traditional GDP as a financial productivity measure. Published back in 2006, the Chinese Green GDP showed that the financial loss caused by pollution in China was 511.8 billion yuan ($66.3 billion), which was 3.05 percent of the nation's economy.
What does it measure?
Green GDP monetizes the effects of the loss of biodiversity and the costs of climate change.
How do they get there?
Like other alternative indicators, such as the Sustainable Development Index or the Genuine Progress Indicator, the Green GDP quantifies the costs of pollution, climate change, waste and other factors likely to cause costly damages in the future.
What can it tell us (really)?
This is just another way to try to quantify and measure the monetary impact of the environmental damage caused by a country's economic growth. The idea is that, while the economy might look like it's growing now, the damages caused by that growth will inevitably drag it downward in the future. The preciseness of the Green GDP's measurement methods is debatable; after all, since the future costs are not actually known, those calculations are based on speculation - well-informed speculation, but still. What it really gives us is another way of looking at economic growth, putting it in perspective alongside its potential future economic consequences.
But nobody's perfect
Now that you've read all this, we'll let you know that no one uses Green GDP as an economic indicator anymore. Chinese officials put a stop to that back in 2007, after it was found that the Green GDP caused their economic growth rate to drop to unattractively low levels, nearly zero in some provinces. The government thereby withdrew its support for the index and went back to the old school Gross Domestic Product.
This is a very good move and is my prayers it get adopted by countries who care about the effect of climate change.The world should not be only moved by economic motives only.We need to show concern and understand one thing that financial and economic motives are there to serve a need that is the need of life and no the other way round.We are so blinded with economic welfare that we don't see the need for environmental welfare.
Perhaps nations should calculate a Green GDP in a different way, such as what percentage of their energy production is clean energy, and what percentage of municipalities produce clean energy at the local levl, and how much?
Good measurements can be implemented.
Decentralized self-sufficiency indicies can be calculated for many categories, such as food producion, clothing manufacturing etc.
Decentralization will be the mirror image of globalization for a stable world future.
But first we need to see all mankind as part of a single family as a starting point. Teaching Peace is profitable. War is expensive and creates unstable economic imbalances.
Ahh, the irony on this article.
1. A government adopts a Green GDP to be more holistic in planning for our future generations
2. The Green GDP reports show environmental damage from economic growth
3. People reduce their rate of consumption and economic growth to create a sustainable future for future generations
4. A government drops the Green GDP for the Corporate Welfare GDP, as the rich stopped getting richer.
Nobody is perfect. Ahh, too bad.
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Gosh, this was a really negative article about something that could result in a balance between economy and environment.
Economy and Environment are really one anyway, if anybody on Wall Street cared to open their eyes.
