The Green & Blue Economy
Green Economy (transitioning from the brown economy to the green and blue economy)
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Achieving sustainable development is based almost entirely on reforming the economy. Most modern economies are mixed (brown,blue, green) but increasing climate change, air pollution, and environmental degradation are the driving force behind the transitioning away from the brown economy towards the blue and green economy.
In a brown economy, economic growth is largely dependent on environmentally destructive forms of activity, such as the heavy reliance of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas. The brown economy makes demands on our environment that surpasses the Earth’s carrying capacity, encouraging unrestrained exploitation of finite resources.This type of economy is rife with political corruption and is responsible for the massive levels of global warming causing greenhouse gas emissions into our atmosphere. Air and water pollution are defining characteristics of this type of economy which have a range of harmful impacts on biodiversity.
In addition to being the leading driver of civilization-ending climate change, fossil fuels contribute to the death of millions each year.
The UN defines the green economy as one that “carries the promise of a new economic growth paradigm that is friendly to the earth’s ecosystems and can also contribute to poverty alleviation”: Growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
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The green economy is premised on economic production which minimizes emissions, reduces resource consumption, and lowers environmental costs. Part of this approach involves recycling natural resources in a model of economic development that emphasizes economic, environmental, and social benefits.
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In its simplest essence, the green economy is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.
The blue economy, also called the marine economy, is one that supports clean and healthy oceans and aquatic ecosystems. This form of economy acknowledges that water is crucial to our financial, biological, cultural, and spiritual well-being – primarily focusing on managing oceans, waterways, and water resources.
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The seas cover 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, and they are critical to a healthy biosphere. They are a rich repository of marine life, sea-based food, sea-embedded minerals, and coral reefs. Despite their importance to life on earth oceans are under threat from pollution, climate change, and acidification.
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In a blue economy, we are tasked to engage in better management of finite water resources and create more livelihoods for an increasing number of people. This type of economy is focused on water stewardship and it entails minimizing pollution and waste as well as greater efficiency.
Coastal restoration, protection, adaptation, and offshore renewable energy development are all important parts of this type of economy.
African countries are highly dependent on natural resources. Natural capital assets are thus critical to the economic activities and the livelihood of millions of people who depend on fertile soil, forest, fishery and other resources from nature. This high dependency on natural resources signifies increased and sustained pressure on these resources. As such minerals, forests, land, water and marine resources need to be efficiently and sustainably harnessed. Therefore, adopting an inclusive green economy (IGE) approach to structural transformation could enable African countries to ensure efficient, equitable and sustainable use of their natural resources and reduce the adverse impacts of economic growth.
Thus, in the context of Africa’s structural transformation, IGE could play an important role in the following areas:
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To increase agricultural productivity and production in a sustainable manner.
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To harness Africa’s natural resources endowment sustainably
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To accelerate and promote sustainable industrial development.
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To boost overall and renewable energy production, access and efficiency.
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To expand trade opportunities.
This development path should maintain, enhance and, where necessary, rebuild natural capital as a critical economic asset and source of public benefits, especially for poor people whose livelihoods and security depend strongly on nature.
The Green Economy focuses on the following sectors/areas for development in Namibia.
Blue Economy:
The world’s oceans – their temperature, chemistry, currents and life – drive global systems that make the earth habitable for humankind. Our rainwater, drinking water, weather, climate, coastlines, much of our food, medicines and even the oxygen in the air we breathe, are all provided and regulated by the sea.
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Namibia’s Blue Economy Policy proved a basis for leveraging the full potential of Namibia’s aquatic ecosystems in order to address its socio-economic needs in an environmentally sustainable manner.
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The blue economy comprises a range of economic sectors and related policies that together determine whether the use of ocean resources is sustainable. An important challenge of the blue economy is to understand and better manage the many aspects of oceanic sustainability, ranging from sustainable fisheries to ecosystem health to preventing pollution.
Circular Economy:
Today's world population (2022) is 7.9 billion people. On the other hand, it is expected that by 2050 9.7 billion people will be reached worldwide, according to the issued report. This implies that in order to satisfy everyone's needs and maintain the current level of consumption, the equivalent of three times our planet would be required, in order to supply ourselves with natural resources.
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Within the green economy, the circular economy represents a “developmental strategy that provides economic growth without increasing the consumption of resources and reducing the impact of the environment.”
In line with the SDGs, the transition from a linear to circular economy is currently an indispensable aspect for managing resources in an eco-efficient way, since the concept sustainability is totally based on the circularity of all necessary material.
Therefore, the circular economy reduces material use, redesigns material, products, and services to be less resource intensive, and recaptures waste as a resource to manufacture new materials and products. ​
Within the circular economy, the bioeconomy becomes critical for resource and environmental sustainability. Through the anthropogenic consumption of raw materials from fossil-based origins are reduced the influx of renewable resources is supported, and the environmental impacts are reduced to a minimum. The bioeconomy process has been defined as the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value added products including bio-based products. This concept has inspired the circular economy vision which defines growth through the continuous valorization of waste generated by any production or activity in a virtuous cycle.
The circular bioeconomy is an economy powered by nature; it is new economic model the emphasizes the use of renewable natural capital and focuses on minimizing waste, replacing a wide range of non-renewable, fossil-based products currently in use.
Currently, recycling consists of taking the materials used, decomposing and reprocessing them in order to generate a new product. The problem is that most of the time, the product that is obtained at the end has a lower quality than before. In this way, the authors of this theory describe this type of recycling as downcycling. They defend the idea of upcycling, which is based on creating new products that have a higher quality, exclusively using recycled elements. Here we can find all kinds of examples, from creating a robot with canning cans to turning an adult's socks into baby leggings.