Greening of Economic Development: An Introduction

Mathews, John A.; Metiku, Arkebe

Abstract

As opposed to traditional accounts of economic development, framed in terms of stocks of available energy (fossil fuels), resources, and finance, a new paradigm is emerging based on greening as a viable strategy. This is based on restorative strategies such as threefold greening of energy (renewables and renewable fuels like hydrogen); circulation of resources; and greening of financial instruments. This chapter sets the scene for the Handbook, which draws on international specialist expertise to provide a comprehensive overview of this green industrial revolution that is needed to stave off ecological collapse. It demonstrates how the shift in energy, resource flows, and finance is a process rather than an endpoint; that it is compatible with economic growth and structural change; that it is driven by economic drivers such as cost reductions generated by experience curves; and that at the vast scale and rapid pace required it calls for a Global Green New Deal and institutional support that may be compared with the Roosevelt New Deal and its creation of an Arsenal for Democracy. The Handbook is based on empirical evidence and offers ways forward for emerging economies as much as for the developed world.

Citation

Mathews, J. A., & Metiku, A. (2025). Greening of Economic Development: An Introduction. In J. A. Mathews, & A. Oqubay (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook on the Greening of Economic Development (3-12). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198883487.013.1

• Online Publication Date: May 22, 2025
• Publication Date: May 29, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jul 8, 2025
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Pages: 3-12
• Book Title: The Oxford Handbook on the Greening of Economic Development
• Chapter Number: 1
• ISBN: 9780198883487
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198883487.013.1
• Keywords: greening of economic development, green energy (renewables), circular flow of resources, green finance, green industrial revolution, Green New Deal