The color of the economy is an interesting approach to help us position our contribution to the value system when buying or looking for a job.
So what is a Red economy?
How about a Green economy?
How does a Blue economy differ from the other two?
It all started when money has been invested in the “brown economy” (e.g. fossil fuels) which led to many global crises associated with climate change, food, energy, and finance.
The red economy is the byproduct of Fordism (named after Henry Ford), which favors mass production and considers environmental resources to be unlimited. To put it simply, the red economy is a linear business model of taking resources and producing waste. The core business is based on low production costs that rely on a globalized economy. The social or environmental concerns are not compatible with the business. One of the effects of globalization is the process of commoditization, which corresponds to a trend that takes place over several years and lead to the price war that is ravaging margins and profit. The red economy clearly comes from an outdated school of thought in which the environment was not given much consideration, if any at all. We all know that this is completely unsustainable.
Human beings are still reductionist and want to have control. However, the increasing demand for water, food, and energy cannot be dealt with as separate issues because what changes one of these resources also impacts the others.
Enter the green economy. The green economy is based on respecting the environment with a reductionist mode of thought. This includes finding renewable forms of energy while focusing on keeping carbon emissions low, and innovating technology that optimizes the use of the earth’s finite resources. In order to undo the damage of the old model, the green economy requires significant investments from companies to generate less pollution while targeting more efficient operations, which ultimately impacts the cost for consumers. In this model, we have come to accept that everything that is good and healthy is much more expensive. But does it really have to be that way for a sustainable economy to work?
“Buy less, choose well, make it last.”
Vivienne Westwood, British fashion designer and businesswoman
While the green economy does seem to be a better alternative to the red economy, some of the criticisms of the green economy include that it is transitional, it will take too long, and it is not affordable.
Cultivating a New Business Model for a Time of Crisis
The importance of collaboration and taking an integrated approach to solving systemic sustainability issues across the economy, is an important first step in initiating large scale change across different sectors.
In nature, there is neither bad nor good; there are only useful design systems. So, pioneering innovations inspired by nature could respond to the basic needs of all. This would allow us to use what we have around us. Furthermore, if we think about generating multiple benefits involving jobs and social capital, then we can limit our use of resources.
The blue economy is an extension of the green economy, where pollution is eliminated and even waste can be put to good use. Inspired by how ecosystems in nature actually work, the blue economy is the way forward. It is the only economic model that captures a true sense of what it means to live sustainably. Conceived by Gunter Pauli, Belgian entrepreneur and founder of the Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives (ZERI) , was one of the icons of the green economy until, on a trip to Indonesia, he found out what the production of his bio-soaps had done to the forests of Indonesia. After this traumatic experience, he decided to stop his business and started working on a whole range of innovative projects.
It is time to take wealth from a global perspective and not just in monetary terms, we could then regenerate the health and wealth of our communities and ecosystems.
A New Sustainability Paradigm
Sustainability can be defined as our capacity to respond to all of our basic needs using the resources we have directly around us. In today’s world, we are slowly turning toward this way of interacting with the environment, but improvements must be made.
The circular economy is the new economic model for sustainable development, playing a key role in achieving the SDGs. In this model, nothing is wasted, everything lasts longer and is shared, reused, repaired or recycled. While this model reduces pressure on natural resources, it also brings economic and social profits.
“Let’s restore ecosystems and learn as humans to live within the boundaries of our planet.”
Desiree Driesenaar, External Blue Economy Expert, European Commission.
Desiree Driesenaar write amazing articles with a lot of inspiring initiatives, here is one example of the blue economy in practice from the smallest of the Canary Islands, belonging to Spain: El Hierro, the European example of Regenerating an Area. It wanted to become “an agricultural island with some eco-awareness-tourism,” so the island started by becoming self-sufficient in renewable electricity and desalinated fresh water. In eight years' time, the agriculture has been made organic, rest streams are reused, and food for animals is produced locally.
Some cases of sustainable development are arising in industries all over the world, and can serve as models for other industries to emulate in order to reach our common goal of living within a blue economy. In the fishing industry, boat design can play an important role in facilitating sustainable practices. Boat designer, Eric Le Quéré came up with a solution to boatbuilding that has privileged both income generation for workers and sustainability, meanwhile targeting zero emissions and zero fossil fuel use. He designed a fishing boat with features such as sails that can turn 360 degrees, underwater generators for leveraging hydropower, and a hull made out of 100 percent recycled aluminum (TheBlueEconomy.org).
In other industries, even waste is being given a second life. At CCI Quimper Cornouaille, Technical Coordinator, Albin Monsorez has developed a method for “transforming” old coffee grounds into oyster mushrooms following the blue economy model. His goal is not only to grow mushrooms, but be able to develop an autonomous container culture model (Franceinfo).
Looking at the Same Situation with a Different Set of Eyes
In order to create a better world, or the world we want to live in, we need to consider new economic models. We can use the model of the blue economy to inspire us to action. With the blue economy, we have an opportunity to ethically optimize the world’s resources, and increase the resilience of our global ecosystems.
Besides changing our consumer behavior, we can also consider living more simply and adding value to our lives in ways that do not involve continually using new resources.
The choice is ours to make.
Fariel DIF
